State Dismisses Appeal By Poughkeepsie City School Board Candidate

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – An appeal to the New York State Education Department claiming the president of the Poughkeepsie City School District board engaged in “illegal” activity during May’s school board elections has been denied, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

An appeal of May's Poughkeepsie City School District board elections was recently dismissed by the New York State Education Department.
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James O'Rourke

10/13/2016 8:45 a.m.

Lance Hardy, a candidate who lost the election by 53 votes, filed the appeal earlier this year, alleging board President Ralph Coates submitted about 100 absentee ballots that were “illegally obtained and turned in,” according to the Journal.

While dismissing the appeal on Oct. 6, state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said the appeal “must be dismissed for failure to join necessary parties,” which essentially means that Hardy failed to name Randy Johnson – the winner of the election – in the appeal, which prevented Johnson from formally responding to the accusations before the state, according to Journal.

The dismissal also noted that the education commissioner has no jurisdiction to open an investigation into the matter, according to the Journal.

Click here to read the report from the Poughkeepsie Journal.

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