Absentee ballots reverse Shelter I. result

A count of absentee ballots has reversed the election for supervisor on Shelter Island, giving Democratic incumbent James Dougherty enough votes to take the lead away from Conservative challenger Glenn W. Waddington.

It was the first election contest this year on Long Island to see the results change after absentee ballots were counted, and also one of the closest races. Waddington initially won on the voting machine count on election night by just 61 votes, 549-488.

But, there were about 300 mail-in ballots not counted that night. Those ballots were reviewed starting Friday, and Dougherty picked up enough votes to take the lead, after which Waddington dropped further challenges. He conceded Saturday night.

The last unopened ballots will still be counted for a final, formal total.

It appeared that Dougherty will have picked up about two-thirds of all the absentee ballots, and there were not enough left uncounted to allow Waddington to win.

"I feel good about this," Dougherty said Monday. "We had a voter turnout of 70 percent."

Shelter Island traditionally has a large number of absentee ballots, because it has more elderly residents who find it difficult to get out and vote, and also has many wealthy homeowners who leave Long Island for the winter.

"I looked at the envelopes as they were opened," Dougherty said. "Many were from people who could not get out of their homes to vote."

Waddington said he was proud of his supporters, and noted the election was close.

"I still plan to haunt town hall for the next couple of years," he quipped, adding that he might run for office again.

Both Dougherty and Waddington serve on the town council, but Waddington's term expires at the end of the year, and two others won those open town council seats.

It was a complicated three-way race -- Republican Bob DeStefano got 221 votes on election night, compared with Waddington's 549 and Dougherty's 488.

Dougherty also ran on Independence and Working Families lines, while Waddington also ran on the Island Unity line.

In the end, there was little substantive difference between the two candidates, who agreed with each other on most major issues, such as the need to preserve the environment and keep taxes down.