With the November elections just around the corner, realtor David Knudsen reminds all you flatlanders -- er, "second-home owners" -- that you can vote here, even if it's not your primary residence. And with so much about the future of rural New York at stake this year, maybe you should.
Sullivan County is one of those places where single votes can make a difference. Races here, particularly at the township or schol board level, are sometimes won or lost by as few as a few dozen votes. Particularly over the next year, with gas drilling gaining momentum as an issue, some of the upcoming elections will be very important. This November, for example, David Sager (D), an outspokjen drilling opponent, is running against the long term incumbent Republican John Bonacic. It's one of those races where every vote will be important. Township elections are coming up in November, 2011, and in many townships will likely feature matchups between pro and anti-drilling candidates.
As Knudsen points out, second-home owners can thank eight determined Bovina part-timers for their ability to vote in the towns they spend weekends and summers in. The Bovina eight, all opponents of wind-farm development in the area, registered to vote in Bovina instead of NYC, but were dropped from the voter rolls by the Delaware County Board of Elections because of their part-time status.
The eight voters challenged the county in court, and they prevailed. You can check out the 2008 decision of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, here. An excerpt:
Under these circumstances, where petitioners have renounced their right to vote elsewhere and manifested an intent to reside long term in Bovina, coupled with a legitimate and significant physical presence, we find no basis upon which to disturb Supreme Court's determination that petitioners have successfully established their voting residences in Bovina...
