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County election officials say an executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowing voters to use any polling place following Superstorm Sandy has resulted in thousands of affidavit ballots that still have to be counted and certified.
Unofficially elected Democratic village trustees Kevin Davis and incumbent Ann Gallelli can't be sworn in until votes are certified by the county. Village trustees are normally sworn in one month after they're elected.
A Village of Croton "public notice" sent out by email notified residents that, although State and federal offices must be certified by Dec. 15, the Board of Elections has not provided an exact day by which it will certify village elections.
"One consequence of holding Village elections in November is that the County assumed control over the Village’s election procedures," said the public email notice sent out by the village. "In prior years, with elections held in March, the Village certified its own election results for submission to the County within a few days of the election."
Davis, who led the charge to have village elections changed by referendum from March to November, said although there is a delay, it does not indict the system.
"In the past, for the other villages in Westchester, very rarely did they have this problem. This year, currently, [other villages are] facing the same problem as Croton," said Davis.
"If there was a problem with the system, we would have had this issue before. The only other time I could find when this happened was there was a State senate race that was held up, and it delayed the certification of the Mamaroneck Village elections for one week," said Davis.
Holding fall elections saves the village about $4,000 per year, and according to Davis, increases voter turnout.
Westchester County Board of Elections Commissioners could not be reached by deadline, Monday evening.
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