The voter rolls in the heavily Democratic city of Mount Vernon are so shady that they include dead residents and locals who were born as early as 1897, a scathing new lawsuit claims.
In just over a year, the number of voters in the small Westchester County city spiked by 30%, with the increase heavily favoring the Democratic majority, City Council candidate Bill Schwartz alleged in the shocking complaint filed against county election officials last week.
“This lawsuit is about more than messy records,” Schwartz, who lost a party primary bid last month, told The 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.
“I’m asking the court to step in and make sure the November election and future elections are conducted fairly, transparently and by the book,” he said.
The lawsuit, 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.
Nelson could not be reached for comment, but Colety told The Post that the board couldn’t comment as it had not officially been served with Scwhartz’s complaint.
According to Schwartz, the Democrats control the suburban city of about 80,000 residents, traditionally a powerful voting bloc that holds great political influence in the county.
Nelson, a Mount Vernon resident, not only holds the election commissioner post, but is also recording secretary for the city’s Democratic committee. Her mentor, the late Reginald LaFayette, not only held the commissioner’s post for years, but also served as the county and Mount Vernon party chair.
Schwartz maintains party bigwigs also call the shots in the city — and not on the up-and-up.
He compared voter records from last year and from June of this year and found there had been more than 10,000 new voter IDs in 13 months — a whopping number in a city with just over 41,000 voters.
Last year, county board records listed 34,386 unique voter IDs, with 25,900 registered Democrats, 2,167 registered Republicans and the rest either independent or listing other parties.
The lawsuit said this year there were now 44,021 unique voter IDs, with 31,311 registered as Democrats and just 2,821 Republicans, with the rest independent or registered to minor political parties.
Schwartz also said the records were “deeply problematic,” with the oldest voter listing a birthdate of Oct. 13, 1897, and the earliest registration date listed as Oct. 12, 1927, he said.
Some 2025 voters hadn’t cast a ballot in over 10 years, while others had their birthdates, addresses and party affiliation changed on the records, the lawsuit claimed.
Schwartz cited some city residents now registered to vote “who are, in fact, deceased and have been for many years,” the suit said.
Another “active” voter on the Mount Vernon rolls moved to Virginia 12 years ago, while one died more than 15 years ago, and yet another died in 2002, according to the lawsuit.
However, Schwartz said the elections board refused to fix the records when the fraud was reported.
“This isn’t just about party politics,” he said. “It’s about fairness. If we want people to have faith in our elections, then the rules need to apply to everyone, no matter how connected they are.
“Right now I don’t think that’s happening,” he added. “I’m doing what I can to change it.”
