A clerk for the Hempstead Union Free School District on Long Island is accused of destroying ballots in an effort to secure a win for a favored candidate in a recent trustee election. The allegations are detailed in a 51-page petition filed by the district with the state Education Department.
According to the petition, Clerk April Keys allegedly smuggled official ballots out of her office and provided absentee ballots to candidate Victor Pratt, who is accused of then discarding them. The district's attorneys argue that these alleged widespread irregularities so fundamentally compromised the election process that the results should be overturned.
The election for the Board of Education trustee position in May was decided by a narrow margin of 81 votes. An internal probe revealed that Pratt's victory was significantly bolstered by absentee and early mail ballots, despite him performing poorly in in-person machine voting. Pratt reportedly received 87% of absentee votes and 55% of early mail votes, contrasting with only 27% of in-person machine votes. Other trustee candidates received fewer than 100 absentee and early mail ballots combined.
The district is requesting that the state Education Department Commissioner order a new election. The petition also suggests that the New York Attorney General's Civil Rights office should oversee the new election, with a replacement clerk managing the process.
Questionable results first came to light after the district identified significant irregularities in its election proceedings. The petition was submitted on June 15, and the findings emerged publicly on Thursday. Keys could potentially face criminal charges as a result of the investigation.