Latimer Plan: Help Board of Elections Handle Presidential Election Crush, with More Personnel, More Polling Sites and More Money | WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR---65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2020. From Westchester County Department of Communications. July 15, 2020:

In the wake of a primary election day filled with issues, Westchester County Executive George Latimer released a four-point plan aimed at offering assistance to the state-directed Westchester Board of Elections (BoE) in advance of Election Day 2020.

The plan, which has already been given to Board of Elections Commissioners Reginald Lafayette and Douglas Colety, includes assistance with additional polling place inspectors, replacement polling sites, additional temporary staff for absentee ballot counting and early voting.

Latimer said: “Our nation was founded on the principle of free and fair elections – without them nothing else truly matters. The Board of Elections are a state-directed entity but what I am offering is a way to utilize the strength of our County government to assist in the democratic process.”

Among the new procedures is utilizing Westchester County employees, who already have Election Day off, as polling place inspectors. Latimer said utilizing these workers, along with also securing new polling sites to keep a reasonable number of locations open but avoid the use of nursing homes and other high Covid-19 risk areas, is simply streamlining our government workforce and utilizing County connections.

Latimer said: “While the Westchester Board of Elections is state controlled we are all in this together. This is our County and we have an American duty to make the voting process as accessible as possible to those who want to exercise their civic rights. I want people to vote, I want them to be engaged – and we are here to help.”

Additionally, the last two points of the plan are to provide resources to the BoE to hire part-time poll workers to count absentee ballots as well as open up early voting locations so that any duly registered Westchester voter can vote at any early voting location site.

The four point plan was shared with BoE leadership as well as Board of Legislators leadership.

Editor’s Note: The Board of Elections still has not issued official results including the absentee ballot counting, though WPCNR has learned that Christopher Burdick has been declared the winner of the New York Assembly District 93 Primary race, and the Associated Press has announced Mondaire Jones won the Congressional District 17 race, winning the nomination to run for retiring Nita Lowey’s seat.