Posted May 23, 2012

Commissioner of Education Dr. John B. King has denied the appeal from the North Colonie Board of Education regarding discrepancies found with certain voting machine tallies from the Special Board Election of January 31.

The Commissioner ruled that there was not enough strong evidence of any election error that had an impact on the outcome of the vote, therefore the election stands as is and W. Ronald Von Dell will be the duly elected Board member who will serve out the remainder of Dr. Siren Chudgar’s term.

On the evening of the election, results showed Von Dell to be the winner over David Rosenthal by the count of 248 to 246. Subsequently, the voting machines at both the Southgate and Loudonville Elementary School polling locations were found to have registered more votes than individuals who had signed in to vote.

At the Southgate Elementary polling location, although 42 individuals signed in to vote, 69 votes were recorded on the machine when the polls closed. Similarly, while 46 individuals signed in to vote at the Loudonville Elementary polling location, 47 votes were recorded on that machine.

These were the only two polling locations out of eight that showed discrepancies.

Von Dell was certified as the winner following the election and remained on the Board during the time period in which the Commissioner was reviewing the appeal. His term will expire on June 30, 2016.