Voting fraud alleged in East Hills recount

The Village of East Hills' election saga is far from over.

A recount last week declared the incumbent candidates winners over challengers from the East Hills Advocacy Group, but a new controversy over alleged ballot box fraud has erupted.

In a letter sent Wednesday to village Clerk Donna Gooch and the Nassau County Board of Elections, advocacy group treasurer and attorney Charles Casolaro contested the results and demanded they not be certified.

Casolaro claimed he knew of at least two signatures in the election log book from people who may not have voted. He said he had proof of a woman seeing her husband's signature on the logbook even though her husband had not voted.

"I want to check to see if the people who voted were the people who voted," Casolaro said.

Village Attorney William Burton said the village asked for proof of the claims but has yet to see anything.

"At the present time we have no paperwork and no affidavits to support any of the allegations," Burton said. "They're mere accusations without substance."

Casolaro also said vote totals for a trustee seat were higher than the number of actual voters. And on one machine, people who choose a write-in candidate for mayor could not select a trustee candidate farther down on the ballot.

This is the latest controversy in a contentious election that brought out more voters to this North Hempstead village than in the 2008 village election.

After the March 15 election, the village went to State Supreme Court seeking a recount because of a discrepancy in vote totals reported in the mayoral race. The recount reduced the number of votes awarded to mayoral hopeful Matthew Weiss, while the tally for Mayor Michael Koblenz stayed the same.

Gooch plans to submit paperwork Thursday for certification of the election results by the court, Burton said.

But Casolaro said he was going to file a motion to stop the certification as well as seek an order allowing an inspection of the election books to check signatures.