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Essex County taxpayers pay for legal defense

To the editor:

Re: Wasting precious taxpayer money on a frivolous, politically motivated appeal

Essex County has chosen to appeal the ruling by state Supreme Court Justice Martin Auffredou ordering the county to release electronic ballot scans under a Freedom of Information Law request filed by Essex County Democratic Party Chair Bethany Kosmider. The county Board of Supervisors voted 13-5 to continue to fund and support the appeals process at the expense of local taxpayers, who will foot the bill for outside lawyers at a cost of up to $250 per hour. This is an ill-advised abuse of discretion when it comes to the allocation of taxpayer funds. Clearly there are more important and pressing needs deserving of the allocation of funds that will go to pay lawyers. Why not simply honor the Supreme Court decision and release the ballot scans if there is nothing to hide? Indeed, the county supervisors’ stubborn refusal to release the records would appear to argue that there is something the county is trying to keep hidden.

This is unacceptable in a democratic society. Free and open elections are the keystone of American democracy. When voters go to the polls to elect representatives, they elect leaders who will shape the future of their society. Elections empower ordinary citizens by allowing them to influence the policies of their government, and thus their own future. Hence, the integrity of the election process is vital to democracy. As such, the election process must remain free and open to examination by concerned citizens in order to avoid even the slightest taint of election fraud.

According to county attorney Dan Manning, the reason behind the appeal is not to block transparency but rather to safeguard the privacy of voting. However, this reason is as transparently dishonest as the appeal itself. There is no threat to voter privacy since ballot scans do not contain any information that identifies the individual voter. North Elba Supervisor Robi Politi, who supported the appeal, also hid behind this bogus and blatantly ill-informed reasoning by claiming constituents would be placed in a position of knowing how they voted. Yet Politi, who, it may be remembered, refused to debate his 21-year-old opponent in 2015, was unable to give one specific example of how this could happen. He can’t; nor can Dan Manning or any of the other county supervisors who voted to continue this meritless lawsuit that amounts to a political vendetta and an abuse of the appellate process at the expense of the taxpayer.

Essex County Republican Party Committee Chairman Shaun Gillilland, who also serves as vice chair of the Board of Supervisors, said the county has a constitutional right to appeal the decision. While that may be so, they do not have a constitutional right to throw away taxpayer money to appeal a Supreme Court ruling that is clearly in keeping with the fundamental rule of law pertaining to maintaining our election process as free and open to independent examination.

Sincerely,

Brian P. Barrett

Lake Placid

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