Poughkeepsie board candidate to challenge election results

A man who ran for the Poughkeepsie City School District board and lost will challenge the election results based on questions surrounding absentee ballots.

Lance Hardy, a candidate who lost the only open board seat to Randy Johnson by 53 votes, alleges that board President Ralph Coates "illegally obtained and turned in" about 100 absentee applications and ballots, according to the petition he filed with the state Education Department.

Hardy is requesting an investigation by the state Education Department and a "stay" of the election results.

Meanwhile, a local private investigator, who met with "an unnamed individual regarding his concerns" about Hardy, says that Hardy lives in the Town of Poughkeepsie and not the city, making him ineligible for the seat, according to a report Coates gave the Journal. 

Via statement, Coates said he "adamantly (denies) the accusations that have been made by Mr. Hardy. His accusations are defamatory and I intend to seek his accountability in the event that he continues to falsely accuse me of illegal acts. Mr. Johnson won the election by a clear majority of the vote."

Hardy says he does live in the City of Poughkeepsie.

The district's May 17 election results have been surrounded by questions.

READ MORE: District: Half of Poughkeepsie's 156 absentee ballots tossed out

At a public meeting on election day, board clerk Victoria Jackson said that not all of the absentee ballots had been counted in the final vote tally. When Jackson was asked why, she said she was "advised by my personal attorney not to answer that (question) in public.”

Of the 156 absentee ballots cast this year, 79 were marked void and discounted, according to information obtained by the Poughkeepsie Journal in a Freedom of Information request. The district has not yet provided any explanation as to why.

In his petition, Hardy said Jackson's comment was based on Coates' "illegal conduct" of acquiring and submitting absentee ballots. 

An affidavit included in Hardy's petition, written by poll watcher Gregory Melton, also states that Melton saw Johnson enter a polling site at one of the elementary schools on election day. Melton also says in his affidavit that he believes trustee Gregory Charter went to a polling site on election day and turned in an absentee ballot to an election worker.

Johnson, who has served on the board before, had no comment about the election challenge.

Charter said he did not hand in any absentee ballots, before or during the election, and that Hardy's statements are "slander. That is not true." While Charter was at a school that day, it was just to "bring people (voters) to the polls...just like Lance. Everybody brings people to the polls. It's slander how people could sit there and make allegations."

Four people ran for one open board seat in Poughkeepsie this year. Johnson won with 431 votes; Hardy got the next highest number, 378. 

In his petition, Hardy says that the "core of (his) appeal" is not based on the final tally of votes, but on the election process itself, which "was marred with such irregularities" that the "overall fundamental fairness" of the election was adversely impacted.

Johnson has an "extensive history" with Coates and Charter, according to Hardy's petition, including Coates serving as Johnson's campaign manager when he ran for mayor in 2015.

Hardy wants the state to interview board clerk Jackson and trustee Felicia Watson about their knowledge of irregularities during the election, according to the petition. "Irregularities and improprieties (were) reported directly" to Watson. 

On Thursday, the state Education Department confirmed that its Office of Counsel had received Hardy's appeal, but spokesman Jonathan Burman said they couldn't comment further.

In his report, senior investigator Don Postles of Mid Hudson Protective Services, says he's confident Hardy has lived with his wife in the Town of Poughkeepsie-based Pendell Commons Apartments since 2013.

Postles' belief is based on an interview with a Pendell property manager and "other contributing factors," he wrote in his report. The property manager told Postles that Hardy's name was removed from the lease he shared with his wife in 2014. But even though his name is no longer on the lease, Hardy's truck is still usually parked at the residence and he has still "basically" been living there.

Via statement on Monday, Postles said: "Mid Hudson Protective Services has pride(d) itself on being one of the most premiere investigative companies in the Hudson Valley. We have investigated thousands of cases throughout the years with satisfactory results. It has never been nor will it be the practice of our company to divulge any aspect of our investigations publicly or privately. We are not responsible for the actions of others who may or may not be privy to any of our investigative work."

Hardy says his wife and children, who do live in the town apartment, often use his truck.

Coates said the district did not hire the private investigator.

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman