To the Editor:
I want to make voters aware of an important fact about how votes will be counted in the upcoming Board of Education election. Absentee ballots are processed after the polls close. If someone submitted an absentee ballot and then also votes in-person, then the absentee ballot will not be opened. The in-person vote overrides the absentee vote.
If you have submitted or plan to submit an absentee ballot to someone harvesting ballots (either in the past few weeks or over the next few days) and want to change your vote, you can still show up to Garden City High School on May 17th from 6am to 9pm and vote IN-PERSON. Your in-person vote will be the vote that counts.
Perhaps a friend or neighbor came to your door and you did not feel comfortable saying “no” to their ballot harvesting effort. Perhaps a stranger (never trust strangers) told you things that you now realize are not true about the candidates. You have an opportunity to change your mind by voting IN-PERSON on May 17th.
Some have tried to make the Board of Education election a CAP vs. FABGC election. It is not. It is about what is best for our children and village. I encourage anyone who feels they were pressured into submitting an absentee ballot to independently research the candidates and carefully consider whether they want to change their mind by voting IN-PERSON on May 17th.
Peter M. Manley
Thank Peter for your letter – a very important message. The weather forecast for next Tuesday is sunny and warm – let’s all get out to the high school from 6am to 9pm and have our voices heard by voting in-person.
And thank you, Mr. Catalano, for your letter last week in the GC News. I hope that voters that have been conditioned to have their ballots harvested will heed our message. The BOE election is far more important than the BOT election in my view. I care a lot more about how my children are taught than whether 7th street is dirty or not.