Voters in a Lengthy Island village went to the polls to elect their subsequent mayor on Tuesday. What’s totally different about this election: There have been no names on the poll.
In Bayville, anybody seeking to vote was requested to do greater than common with the intention to choose the subsequent mayor. That is as a result of within the village of seven,000 folks, nobody filed the mandatory paperwork to formally run as a candidate for the job.
As an alternative of selecting amongst an inventory of candidates, voters needed to write within the identify of somebody — making a wide-open race.
“So long as I’m voting on this nation, over 40 years, essentially the most weird native election,” mentioned Janina Lem.
The present mayor had opted to not search re-election earlier within the yr, and after his announcement, no candidate secured the petition signatures wanted to get their identify on the poll.
“It’s sort of unhappy. I assume the system is somewhat bit damaged,” TKTK
At the least a half dozen candidates turned to social media within the two weeks main as much as the election in an effort to push their write-in candidacies.
“Hear, we now have a finances. Folks pay taxes. It’s important to have somebody who is aware of what they’re doing,” mentioned Rena Bologna, who has served Bayville as a trustee deputy mayor.
Legal professional Kevin Casey was a kind of searching for workplace for the primary time, as he tried to drum up votes outdoors the village’s polling place.
“I’m right here. I’m stepping up. I consider I’m essentially the most certified,” Casey mentioned.
Present Mayor Steve Minicozzi mentioned that if voters write in his identify, he’ll serve for a short while longer after which facilitate a particular election subsequent yr to decide on his successor.
John Moller hopes his village will make it by an election that may solely be described as a political free-for-all.
“I simply acquired a textual content message my neighbor is operating so I’m going to place his identify on it,” mentioned Moller.
The final mayoral election noticed roughly 1,500 votes. Polls closed at 9 p.m. It might take just a few days to tally up the votes from Tuesday’s election.
