GOSHEN – Newburgh mayoral candidate Gay Lee is challenging the Orange County Board of Elections’ decision knocking her out of the race for the Democratic line in the November election.
Lee, a registered Democrat, submitted petitions to run in a party primary election next month against Torrance Harvey, the current mayor, appointed after the death of Mayor Judy Kennedy in April.
The board of elections ruled Lee had insufficient valid petition signatures to run in a Democratic primary.
In court papers filed by Lee, she said she submitted petitions with 543 signatures; 331 valid signatures were required. The elections board ruled she had only 289 valid signatures, 42 short of the required number.
The board disqualified 69 individuals who are registered as Democratic Party voters in Newburgh on the ground that they were registered at a different Newburgh address than that which appeared on her nominating petitions.
Lee argued in her appeal that those people did conform with election law, which requires “the signatory to write his/her current ‘place of residence’ and does not direct persons signing the nominating petitions to include the address at which s/he is registered to vote.”
As it stands now, Harvey will appear on the Democratic and Working Family Party lines on the November ballot. Lee will be on the Independence and Reform Party lines.
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