NYS AG reviewing claims of absentee ballot shenanigans in Nassau

A chart showing the number of absentee ballots picked up... — A chart showing the number of absentee ballots picked up in person by legislative district in Nassau County through Thursday.

Updated October 31, 2025

Daily Point

Huge absentee ballot request in 14 LD raises concerns

New York State Attorney General Letitia James is reviewing complaints of possible absentee ballot fraud in one of the most contentious legislative races in Nassau County, The Point has learned.

Republican Sheharyar Ali, a former county attorney now working at Nassau’s Board of Elections, and Democrat Cynthia Nuñez are vying for an open seat in the 14th Legislative District. GOP incumbent C. William Gaylor III is not seeking reelection. Republicans who are in control of the chamber are pushing for one more seat to gain a supermajority.

The Point was told that an “anomalous” 1,187 absentee ballots were picked up in person at the Board of Elections. According to the source, 50 individual “harvesters” came to Mineola to pick up ballots for voters registered in the 14th LD. This compares to a total of 1,875 in-person pickups for the entire county. Most absentee ballots are requested online or through the Postal Service.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office confirmed that it’s reviewing complaints to its voter fraud hotline. However, Nassau Democrats say the AG is cautious about moving forward unless there are signed affidavits by the voters who allege they were forced or tricked into their vote.

Having another person pick up a signed request for an individual’s ballot is legal. An election official will compare the voter’s signature to the one on file. What is illegal is pre-filling out the ballot and then making the voter, over their objection, sign the envelope containing the ballot.

Two sources familiar said the strange behavior came to light when some of the voters protested that their ballots were pre-filled out for Ali as well as County Executive Bruce A. Blakeman. Ali’s father, Chaudhry Akram, is a senior adviser to Blakeman.

“They were fine voting for Ali, he is from their mosque. What they objected to was the vote for Blakeman,” the source said.

It was at the Masjid Hamza Islamic Center in North Valley Stream and later at a real estate office in Valley Stream where the voters gave their absentee ballot requests to their harvesters and where they were later given the ballots to sign, the sources said, adding that the process was done this way so leaders at the mosque could influence the candidate selection.

Reached by The Point, Ali said he knew nothing about the controversy, adding, “It’s a smear campaign they are running against me.” When asked if he now worked at the Nassau Board of Elections, Ali ended the conversation. “That is all I have to say,” he said.

Michael Deery, a spokesman for the Nassau GOP, later confirmed that Ali worked part time at Nassau’s election board. Deery also sent a statement on Ali’s behalf:

“The Sheharyar Ali campaign for Nassau County Legislature has inspired long-term and new voters to exercise their right to participate in free and open elections. Baseless and unfounded allegations against my campaign regarding certain voters smells of the foul odor of racism and desperation.”

The 14th Legislative District was recently redrawn to include a portion of Elmont with a significant Pakistani population.

In a statement to The Point, a campaign official for Democrat Nuñez’s campaign said, “Any allegation of voter fraud is serious and concerning and should be thoroughly investigated by the proper authorities.”

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciollii@newsday.com

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Daily horror

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Final Point

Did Islip Dems just blow any chance of an Election Day win?

A group text chat between Islip Town Democrats during a meet the candidates night on Oct. 9th sponsored by the civic associations of Sayville, Ronkonkoma and Bohemia contains language that Republicans are calling socialist, and one local media outlet says is racist.

In the chat, Islip Democratic committee person Irina Meri appears to be responding to comments that overdevelopment will turn the region into Queens. She texts, “Can we not with the Islip can’t be Queens thing?" and later adds, “I want to be queens. I want apartments and public transport and all the food.” Later the same person texts, “If we turn into queens are we gonna have more dumpling restaurants?” Many opponents of the Island Hills development spoke at the event.

Another chat participant, Oakdale Civic Association vice president Rae Paoletta, texted, “What I’ve learned is that the GOP on LI is ready for socialism” and later texts, “2028 we run socialist candidates” followed by an emoji, according to screen grabs published online by the Messenger group’s Islip edition.

Islip Town GOP chair Doug Smith told The Point the group chat shows what Democrats stand for. “The residents I’ve spoken with are not surprised by these comments given their public stance on these issues,” Smith said.” In a statement, Smith added that “… these individuals have shown themselves to be completely unserious about public service. If they want high-rise buildings and socialism, they can move to Zohran Mamdani’s New York City after Tuesday.”

Suffolk County Democratic Party spokesman Keith Davies told The Point the group chat was being used by Republicans as a last-minute attack before Election Day. “These were Democrats making fun of Republicans for being racist,” Davies said. “This is Republicans trying to distract five days before Election Day.”

In a statement, Suffolk County Democratic Party chair Rich Schaffer said the party would talk to those involved. “Those comments do not reflect the values of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee and our members,” Schaffer said. “We expect better, and we’ll address it with those involved and take action.”

A group chat in October by New York State Young Republicans that referred to Black people as “monkeys” and praised Nazis and Adolf Hitler led to the state party suspending the Young Republicans.

Islip Town Democratic Party chair Leigh-Ann M. Barde told The Point Republicans were trying to get even for the ruckus caused by those texts. “Over the last few weeks, we have learned that the New York Young Republicans have an affinity for Adolf Hitler, rape, and racism,” Barde said. “This attempt to take out of context the private messages of Democrats is laughable. There is no comparison to be made. We are focused on making Islip more affordable for working families, not insider chatter.”

A Suffolk Democratic Party source told The Point the group text chat was “kinda stupid from a few people” and expected Islip Republicans to use the messages as an October surprise.

There are two seats being contested on the Islip Town Board Tuesday. In the 1st District, incumbent Democrat Jorge C. Guadron is being challenged by Republican Manuel Troche. In the 2nd District, David Chan, a registered Republican running on the Democrat line, and Republican DawnMarie D. Kuhn are squaring off for an open seat.