Board votes to support NYCA audit

Group claims 2022 NY election invalid

By Manor Ink Staff

Livingston Manor, NY – On Thursday, Nov. 16, at the regular meeting of the Town of Rockland Board of Trustees, a resolution was presented by a group called New York Citizens Audit urging an audit of the state’s 2022 general election.

As Manor Ink reported in its October issue, New York Citizens Audit is a fringe non-profit organization that claims votes cast in 2020 and 2022 were fraudulent, and also believes New York voter rolls are rife with unidentified or “cloned” registrations. The New York State Board of Elections, however, has addressed these claims, calling them baseless and unequivocally false.

Potential voter deception

In a cease-and-desist notification sent to NYCA on Sept. 21, the NY Attorney General’s office alleged that members of NYCA had confronted voters across the state at their homes, falsely claiming to be Board of Election officials, and falsely accusing voters of committing felony voter fraud. These allegations, if true, could constitute unlawful voter deception under New York state law and unlawful voter intimidation under both state and federal law.

The accusations were vigorously denied by NYCA. The group’s director, Marly Hornik, said in response to the order that NYCA is “not engaged in any canvassing.” But she also admitted during an interview on the video platform Rumble that the group does visit “suspicious” locations to determine if they are occupied by legitimate voters.

At the board meeting, the resolution was presented simply as addressing “ongoing issues with voting and ballots.” Despite there being no claims of election irregularities in Sullivan County, Town of Rockland Supervisor Rob Eggleton said, “A lot of other towns have moved forward with this and it’s something we should consider doing as well.”

Prior to the vote, it was suggested by a community member present that more time should be spent investigating the claims. She said that NYCA members were known to be deniers of the 2020 general election results, a position taken by former President Trump and many members of the Republican Party, and that there were many in the hamlet who would be uncomfortable with the board endorsing NYCA’s petition. Eggleton acknowledged that NYCA members may have a political agenda, but he was not troubled by whatever it might be. “I don’t see any negative side to this,” he said. “What could be wrong with having someone check the votes to see if they’re correct? That’s all we’re endorsing, that it’s done correctly.”

A vote in favor

The board then voted unanimously to endorse a resolution offered by NYCA, stating, “The Town of Rockland, NY, stands to support the concerns and remedies presented here. We implore the Delaware County Legislature (sic), the New York State Legislature, federal legislators, law enforcement, federal and state prosecutors, judges and both state and county boards of election to cooperate and fulfill these firm requests of the people.”

The New York State Board of Elections, a bipartisan agency of state government responsible for enforcement and administration of election-related laws, has already responded to NYCA’s specific claims with actual election data that should give voters confidence in state election oversight.

Among the many unanswered questions surrounding the demand for an audit was one even NYCA presenters were unable to answer. How much will an audit cost the taxpayers?

Reporter Braden Powell contributed to this story.