Mt. Vernon City Council candidate Bill Schwartz. Why won’t the BOE answer his questions?
By Dan Murphy
A democratic candidate for Mt. Vernon City Council has filed a lawsuit against the Westchester County Board of Elections and its two commissioners, alleging that the voters rolls in Mt. Vernon included dead people and that the voter rolls increased by 30% in one year.
Bill Schwartz is a Mt. Vernon resident and member of the Mt. Vernon Democratic Party. He ran for City Council in a democratic primary that included seven candidates, with three candidates moving onto the November elections, but in Mt. Vernon, the winner of the democratic primary is the de facto winner already, because of the 10-1 enrollment edge for Mt. Vernon Democrats.
The lawsuit states, “The requested relief arises from documented irregularities and credible allegations of election fraud in the June 24, 2025 Democratic Primary, including the unexplained addition of over 9,600 new voter IDs, purging of enrolled voters without notice, and mismatches in voter ID and registration data.
Petitioner Bill Schwartz is a duly enrolled voter residing in the City of Mount Vernon, Westchester County, New York. Petitioner has standing as a voter whose fundamental right to vote is at risk due to Respondents’ failure to maintain an accurate and lawful registration roll.
Respondents Tajian M. Nelson and Douglas A. Colety are the Democratic and Republican Commissioners of the Westchester County Board of Elections. Respondent Westchester County Board of Elections is responsible for maintaining the voter registration list and administering elections in Westchester County.
The spreadsheet titled “2025-07-10_mt Vernon June 2025 active and inactive 07102579” (“Active/Inactive File”) contains 44,021 total records with 44,021 unique voter IDs. Of the 44,021, there are 31,311 democrats, 8,589 with no party, 2,821 republicans, and 1,300+ others (IND, CON, WOR, etc.). There are 41,512 active voters and 2,509 inactive voters. The earliest birthdate listed is 1897-10-13 and the latest is 2007-07-10. Earliest voter registration is 1927-10-12 and the latest is 2025-07-09. The last vote date ranges from 1995-11-07 to 2025-06-24.
The spreadsheet titled “mt Vernon voters and history 12052469” (“Voter History File) contains 34,386 total records with 34,386 unique voter IDs. Party enrollment is: democratic: 25,900, no party: 5,369, republican: 2,167, and others: 950+. Voter status (active/inactive) is not included in this file. The earliest birthdate is 1901-01- 01 and the latest birthdate is 2006-11-03. The earliest registration date is 1927-10-12, and the latest is registration date is 2024-11-06. The last vote date ranges from 1995-11-07 to 2024-11-05.
On even a cursory review, these files are deeply problematic. They show:
A net increase of over 10,000 voter IDs, a 30% growth in 13 months.
Registrants born over 120 years ago.
Voters listed who have not cast a ballot in over a decade.
Changes to Voter ID birthdates, addresses, and party affiliations across records.
The continued inclusion of registrants born in 1901 or earlier strongly indicates deceased individuals have not been removed in compliance with the law The presence of voters who have not voted in more than two general elections, without evidence of confirmation notice, further suggests failure to perform legally required list maintenance
The presence of voters who have not voted in more than two general elections, without evidence of confirmation notice, further suggests failure to perform legally required list maintenance
Notably, Petitioner, together with local residents, has submitted several FOIL requests to the Westchester County Board of Elections seeking essential records, including detailed voter roll update logs, precinct-level registration activity, and absentee ballot data. As required under Public Officers Law § 89(3)(a), the Board must acknowledge FOIL requests within five business days and either produce documents or provide a timeline—typically 20 business days—for production. However, based on prior experience with delayed and incomplete responses, these records will likely not be delivered before relevant legal filing deadlines for Mandamus and Article 78 relief
Upon information and belief, further serious violations and anomalies will only be uncovered through a forensic examination of the June 2025 Primary election records and data. These anomalies include, but are not limited to:
a. Non-Democratic voters—such as Republicans and unaffiliated voters— who were erroneously included in Democratic poll books and allowed to cast Democratic ballots in the closed primary.
b. Discrepancies between the number of votes cast on certain voting machines and the number of enrolled Democrats who signed in at those polling places.
c. Voters being improperly directed away from their correct polling sites by election inspectors or individuals affiliated with opposing campaigns, resulting in disenfranchisement.
d. Ballots being cast by individuals who signed poll books using the names of duly enrolled voters to whom they did not belong—constituting unlawful and fraudulent voting by impersonation.
Petitioner seeks a writ of mandamus compelling Respondents to: (a) conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of all voter registration and list maintenance records, and absentee ballot activity from December 1, 2024 through the present; (b) audit all voting machines used in the June 24, 2025 Primary Election and reconcile machine tallies with paper ballot records; (c) restore the registration status of improperly purged voters; (d) certify in writing the voter list maintenance procedures and safeguards for the November 5, 2025 General Election; (e) disclose all voter ID, address, party, or status changes since December 1, 2024 with justifications; (f) refrain from making any further voter roll modifications without public disclosure and documentary support; (g) preserve all records relevant to voter registration, list maintenance, and ballot activity, including TIFF images, audit logs, and absentee ballot records
As detailed in the attached affidavits of John Gallagher and Gregory Bonaparte, the Active/Inactive voter list includes numerous individuals marked as “active” who are, in fact, deceased, and have been for many years, as well as others who have not resided at the listed addresses for decades. These entries reflect a systemic failure to maintain accurate registration records and underscore the urgent need for judicial intervention.
16. For example, James E. Smith, Voter ID 97269956, is listed as an active voter living at 455 S. 2nd Avenue. James Smith moved to Virginia 12 years ago. Christina L. McCalla, Voter ID 01060501, is listed as an active voter living at 455 S. 2nd Avenue. Christina McCalla has been dead for over 15 years. Joyce Gallagher, Voter ID 00378004, is listed as an active voter living at 165 E. Devonia Avenue. Joyce Gallagher has been dead since 2002 and, despite multiple requests from Mr. Gallagher, the BOE has refused to correct its records,” end of lawsuit.
“This lawsuit is about more than messy records,” Schwartz, who lost a party primary bid last month, told The NY Post. “When the voter rolls are that sloppy and no one at the Board of Elections is answering questions, you start to wonder what else is slipping through the cracks — or being pushed through them.”
The lawsuit was filed July 15 in Supreme Court in White Plains, names the Westchester County Board of Elections and its two commissioners, Republican Doug Colety and Democrat Tajian Nelson.
One of the comments from the NY Post story reads, “In New York State for the governor’s race, I can vote as many times I want and anywhere I want. I can vote as Steve Smith on New Rochelle, and Susan Smith in East Meadow. There is no voter identification. I got yelled at for producing my NYS driver license at the ballot.”
The results of the democratic primary for city council in Mt. Vernon in June were:
Vote for 3-
ANDRE D. WALLACE 2,037 17%-winner
DEM CATHLIN B. GLEASON 2,251 18%-winner
DEM TANESIA M. WALTERS 1,668 14%
DEM ELVIRA M. CASTILLO 1,721 14%
DEM CYNTHIA A. TURNQUEST 1,960 16%-winner
DEM NICK MASTROGIORGIO 1,521 12%
DEM BILL A. SCHWARTZ 1,166 9%
