Nassau to weigh funds for Coliseum vote

Nassau County is preparing to transfer $2.2 million into the coffers of the Board of Elections to fund a special election that could determine the fate of the Nassau Coliseum, multiple sources confirmed Thursday.

The Nassau Legislature is scheduled to vote as early as July 11 on the funding transfer -- a necessary step to prepare for the Aug. 1 vote. Ed Ward, an aide to Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), said he was aware of the transfer but that a vote on the measure has not been set.

The $2.2-million figure reflects the costs of last November's general election in Nassau, said William Biamonte, the Democratic Board of Elections commissioner. The money will be used to print paper ballots, transport voting machines and train and pay election inspectors. "This is the documented cost to run a countywide election with electronic voting machines," Biamonte said.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and Republican Elections Commissioner Louis Savinetti previously stated the election could cost between $800,000 and $1.8 million.

Deputy County Executive of Finance Tim Sullivan said that $2.2 million "sounded like the max" it would cost to run the election but added the county was willing to appropriate the funds nonetheless. He said Nassau freed up some funds this week as the legislature approved Mangano's plans to layoff 128 county workers. Fifty-four others took early retirement payout.

New York Islanders owner Charles Wang has said he will pay for the election if voters approve a plan that would allow the county to bond up to $400 million for a new arena and a minor-league baseball field at Mitchel Field. The legislature and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state oversight board that controls the county's finances, also must approve the borrowing before Wang reimburses the county. Wang, like any other citizen, can make a donation to the county's general fund, Sullivan said.

The Board of Elections will run the Coliseum referendum as it would a typical November vote. The county will use roughly 385 polling locations, Biamonte said. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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About 6,000 absentee ballots will be mailed to those on the election board's permanent list. Individuals not on that list who will be out of town on Aug. 1 can request an absentee ballot from the board.

But with the exception of newly enrolled voters, residents will not receive a confirmation card detailing their polling site because a countywide mailing costs up to $500,000, Biamonte said. Residents should go to their usual voting site to cast their ballots, he said.

The board is facing other potential logistical concerns as it prepares for the vote.

About 20 voting sites are unavailable on Aug. 1 and will have to be relocated, Biamonte said. Meanwhile, roughly 75 percent of the voting sites -- generally public schools, libraries and firehouses -- do not have air conditioning, a possible concern in the sweltering August heat. The majority of the 5,443 Election Day employees, including poll coordinators, inspectors, chairmen and translators, are in their 70s, he said.

"I don't want older people to have breathing issues," said Biamonte, who is attempting acquire fans for the election sites.

County officials, however, dismissed the temperature concerns as overstated, noting that Primary Day is just six weeks later and that some residents went to the polls only last week to vote on school budgets.