PLATTSBURGH — Writing in an outside party candidate in the Democratic primary election will result in a voided vote, the Clinton County Board of Election says.
Citing New York state election law 8-308 sub section 4, BOE Republican Commissioner David Souliere explained that if a resident were to cast a write-in ballot in the Democratic primary for someone who is not a registered Democrat, then their vote will not count for that person.
“It’s put in a void column,” he said Monday.
For example, after failing to get on the ballot as an Independent candidate, Iris Cain recently announced he was launching a write-in campaign for the City of Plattsburgh’s mayoral race and encouraged voters on his Facebook page to cast a write-in ballot for him during the Democratic primary election.
However, Souliere said Cain is not a registered Democrat. This means any write-in votes cast for him in the primary election would subsequently be voided, per New York’s election law.
“He (Cain) did allude to running a write-in campaign, but it sounded like at that time, it was more of a November (general election) thing,” Souliere said.
“In November, anybody can be written in and it doesn’t matter. It’s just that during a private party primary, obviously, there’s a little bit different rules.”
EARLY VOTING
As early voting for the June 25th primary election began June 15 and will run until June 23, Souliere said he wanted to ensure any voter confusion was cleared up during this time.
“They can choose to write in whoever they want; it’s just that if they write in somebody that’s not a Democrat, it’s a void. If they write in somebody who is a registered Democrat, then that vote would count for that person,” he said.
“Because we’re obviously in the middle of the election now, we don’t want there to be voter confusion and people going to cast their ballot under false pretenses. So we just want to make sure there’s that education piece out there.”
PRIMARIES
There are three primaries in the City of Plattsburgh Democratic Party. One for mayor and one each for Ward 3 and Ward 6 council seats.
Early voting is at the Clinton County Government Center, 1st floor meeting room, 137 Margaret St., Plattsburgh.
Any registered voter eligible to vote in the primary may take advantage of Early Voting. All buildings are accessible to all voters.