Some Primary Day candidates still mystery

Nassau County voters will have to wait until Tuesday to learn which Republican and Conservative party candidates will be on the Primary Day ballot in four legislative districts.

On Friday, Nassau Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber heard arguments from attorneys representing the Republican and Democratic Board of Elections commissioners.

Democrats argue that two Republican candidates should be on the ballot in the 5th, 16th, 18th and 19th districts. The GOP claims that only candidates who collected signatures to run under the existing legislative map should be on the primary ballot.

The State Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a new map proposed by Republicans could not go into effect this year.

Peter Bee, an attorney representing Republican Elections Commissioner Louis Savinetti, said the four candidates who collected signatures to run under the new lines have no intention of running and may, in fact, not be eligible to serve.

These candidates, he said, do not live in the existing legislative districts and the signatures collected on their petitions are generally from voters residing in the new lines.

"As a reality, we do not have a primary," Bee said.

But Thomas Garry, an attorney representing Democratic Commissioner William Biamonte, said the board does not have the power to remove candidates from the ballot at this late date.

"We don't have the ability to look beyond the petitions," he said.

A decision on the case is expected Tuesday -- one week before the Sept. 13 primary.