Attorneys battle over Nassau exec ballot petitions

Attorneys for Nassau Democrats said they have found fraud and irregularities on the ballot petitions of former Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick, who is waging a third-party campaign for county executive.

But, Hardwick said Democratic county executive nominee Thomas Suozzi is on a "witch hunt" to suppress the will of minority voters.

"All we are saying is 'we count,' " Hardwick said at a Mineola news conference, surrounded by a dozen supporters. "We want a seat at the table."

Suozzi, who is challenging GOP County Executive Edward Mangano in the Nov. 5 election, declined to comment.

Hardwick, a Democrat, collected more than 8,000 signatures to run on the new We Count line. He needs 1,500 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

At the Board of Elections offices in Mineola Wednesday, attorneys for both sides pored over thousands of signatures, trying to determine if they were those of registered voters or if the signers lived at the addresses on the petition. The challenges continued Wednesday in a Nassau Supreme Court hearing at which five witnesses testified that signatures on the petitions were not theirs. "We have found a plethora of irregularities and fraud," said Democratic Party attorney Steve Schlesinger.

Hardwick's attorney, Vincent Messina, said Schlesinger was grasping at straws and had not proved his case. "There is no fraud here," he said.

One witness, Randy White, testified that Hardwick was present when he was paid $1.25 for each signature he collected. Petitioners can be paid per hour but not per signature. Hardwick denied White's claim and said petitioners were paid $10 per hour. He added that White's father, Rassan Hoskins, is a Democratic committeeman who backs Suozzi.

Democratic sources said many of Hardwick's petitions were collected by employees of the Oheka Castle catering hall in Huntington. Hardwick denied the claim and said he only hired petitioners from the community.

Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius backs Mangano and has said Hardwick is a "close friend."

The catering manager at Oheka Castle is Rick Bellando. He is also executive director of the Nassau Independence Party, which has endorsed Mangano. Suozzi appointed Hardwick as deputy parks commissioner in 2002. But the two have clashed. When Hardwick ran for re-election as mayor, Suozzi and Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs backed his opponent, Robert Kennedy, who later won.

Democrats allege Hardwick is in the race to siphon minority voters from Suozzi, helping Mangano win. But Hardwick said, "No one asked Adam Haber if he was in the race to siphon the Jewish vote." Haber lost to Suozzi in the Democratic primary. Attorneys said it could be several days until the court decides on Hardwick's petitions.

But County Attorney John Ciampoli said the deadline for mailing out military ballots is Friday, Oct. 4, and the county could be fined if it misses the deadline.

Democratic Board of Elections commissioner William Biamonte said if the case is not settled by the end of the week, it will mail out a ballot with Hardick's name on it. If Hardwick subsequently loses the case, a second ballot without his name on it would be mailed to members of the military.