Ramapo Republicans knocked off ballot
By JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: July 29, 2005)
RAMAPO — The entire Republican slate of candidates for supervisor and Town Board has been knocked off the November ballot.
Challenges by Democrats to petitions collected for Joseph Brennan, who is the candidate for supervisor, and Michel Vilson and Judah Lerer, the Town Board candidates, were sustained this week by the Rockland County Board of Elections.
It appeared, though, that a lackluster petition drive was more to blame than Democratic opposition.
There were 632 signatures collected on petitions to place the candidates on the Republican ballot line, just a dozen more than the 620 required, said Ann Marie Kelly, a county commissioner of elections.
"Isn't it a disgrace that more effort wasn't put into it?" said Brennan, a Suffern village trustee.
"If I had known this," Brennan said, "I would have taken it more into my own hands."
Ramapo Republican Chairman Michael Dolan also was disappointed that the GOP committee hadn't collected more signatures to withstand a challenge.
"We didn't have enough to offset any challenge to the signatures," Dolan said. "We have to reorganize the Ramapo Republican Committee. The main job of committee people is to carry petitions, and if we had more people, we would have had enough signatures to be on the line."
Kelly said just one of several objections to signatures was enough to disqualify the slate.
The Board of Elections disqualified 56 signatures on a single objection. Some were for duplicate signatures — witnesses signing their own petitions and then someone else's — while a majority was eliminated because the signers were Democrats when they had to be Republicans.
Among Ramapo's registered voters, nearly 30,000 are Democrats and 11,000 are Republicans.
Brennan said he spoke to his running mates yesterday and they agreed to run with him as independents.
Preserve Ramapo Chairman Robert Rhodes said his group would help collect 1,400 signatures needed to get the candidates back on the ballot.
"We have every intention of winning," he said. "This is just one little step backwards."
By JAMES WALSH
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: July 29, 2005)
RAMAPO — The entire Republican slate of candidates for supervisor and Town Board has been knocked off the November ballot.
Challenges by Democrats to petitions collected for Joseph Brennan, who is the candidate for supervisor, and Michel Vilson and Judah Lerer, the Town Board candidates, were sustained this week by the Rockland County Board of Elections.
It appeared, though, that a lackluster petition drive was more to blame than Democratic opposition.
There were 632 signatures collected on petitions to place the candidates on the Republican ballot line, just a dozen more than the 620 required, said Ann Marie Kelly, a county commissioner of elections.
"Isn't it a disgrace that more effort wasn't put into it?" said Brennan, a Suffern village trustee.
"If I had known this," Brennan said, "I would have taken it more into my own hands."
Ramapo Republican Chairman Michael Dolan also was disappointed that the GOP committee hadn't collected more signatures to withstand a challenge.
"We didn't have enough to offset any challenge to the signatures," Dolan said. "We have to reorganize the Ramapo Republican Committee. The main job of committee people is to carry petitions, and if we had more people, we would have had enough signatures to be on the line."
Kelly said just one of several objections to signatures was enough to disqualify the slate.
The Board of Elections disqualified 56 signatures on a single objection. Some were for duplicate signatures — witnesses signing their own petitions and then someone else's — while a majority was eliminated because the signers were Democrats when they had to be Republicans.
Among Ramapo's registered voters, nearly 30,000 are Democrats and 11,000 are Republicans.
Brennan said he spoke to his running mates yesterday and they agreed to run with him as independents.
Preserve Ramapo Chairman Robert Rhodes said his group would help collect 1,400 signatures needed to get the candidates back on the ballot.
"We have every intention of winning," he said. "This is just one little step backwards."