Competitive election results in a GOP sweep in Tioga County

Unofficial election results in Tioga County, New York arrived late last Tuesday, with County Republicans earning or retaining their seats in various contests, and with all of the precincts reporting.

For Highway Superintendent of Tioga County, Michael Roberts, republican, kept the seat he earned in the primary election with 70% of the votes; write-ins, with Republican Jason Weaver running an aggressive campaign, earned the remaining 30% of the votes. 

Public opinion on social media following the election was that 30% was pretty high for a write-in campaign, one that Weaver ran aggressively.

For Town Council, Dean Morgan and Craig Yochum, republicans, kept their seats with each earning approximately 39% of the vote, and challenger Nancy Della Pia, a democrat, earning 21.25% of the votes.

For County Legislator, District 3, Barbara Roberts, republican, won the seat with a little over 76% of the vote to challenger Rich Purtell’s 23.55% of the vote. Following the election, Roberts posted on social media and thanked the public for trusting her to serve, and assured that she would work hard for the public.

For Legislative District 1, Ronald Ciatoli, republican, retained his seat with close to 67% of the vote; while challenger Irena Raia, a democrat, earned 33.31% of the votes.

You can view the full results and all of the contest information at https://tiogacountyny.com/media/lf1bpclg/2021-general-election-unofficial-results-final.pdf.

There were also five statewide propositions on the back of the ballot in 2021, and the New York voters who turned theirs over didn’t like the three having to do with elections, according to the state’s results.

The state propositions covered five changes to New York’s constitution to include the future of political representation in Albany, environmental protections, easier voter registration and absentee balloting, and how New York City’s civil courts function. 

The first ballot proposition had to do with re-districting. In Tioga County, Proposition One was voted down with over 6,000 No votes to just shy over 2,000 Yes votes. Statewide, 47.25% voted No and 38.89% voted Yes as of midnight on Tuesday.

The proposed constitutional amendment would freeze the number of state senators at 63, amend the process for the counting of the state’s population, delete certain provisions that violate the United States Constitution, repeal and amend certain requirements for the appointment of the co-executive directors of the redistricting commission, and amend the manner of drawing district lines for congressional and state legislative offices.

Proposition Two, on the other hand, was voted in with the majority favoring this proposed amendment. In Tioga County, Proposition Two received over 4,000 Yes votes with close to 4,000 voting No. Statewide, 60.90% voted Yes. 

The proposed amendment to Article I of the New York Constitution establishes the right of each person to clean air and water and a healthful environment.

Proposition Three was also election related, and was rejected by 49.99%, or close to 50% of the voters in New York by midnight on Tuesday; 38.18% voted Yes. In Tioga County, over 6,000 voted No to Proposition Three, with close to 2,000 voting Yes. 

Section 5 of Article II of the New York Constitution now requires that a citizen be registered to vote at least 10 days before an election. The proposed amendment would delete that requirement. 

Proposition Four got “No” votes from 48.88% of voters statewide, with 38.96% voting Yes. In Tioga County, 2,235 voters said Yes, or 26.76%, and 6,116 voted No.

This would eliminate the requirement that a voter provide a reason for voting by absentee ballot. The proposed amendment would do so by deleting the requirement currently in the Constitution that restricts absentee voting to people under one of two specific circumstances: (1) those who expect to be absent from the county of their residence, or from New York City for residents of that city, on Election Day, and (2) those who are unable to appear at their polling place because of illness or physical disability.

Proposition Five, which had split votes of 3,758 Yes votes in Tioga County to its 3,997 No votes, passed, statewide.

The proposed amendment would increase the New York City Civil Court’s jurisdiction by allowing it to hear and decide claims for up to $50,000 instead of the current jurisdictional limit of $25,000. Statewide, 53.66% of the votes were Yes and 30.70% were No.

Additional local propositions in Newark Valley and in the Town of Richford were also voted down, with only 27.35% of the residents in Newark Valley voting Yes to the Town’s proposed amendment. 

The amendment, as proposed, would allow the Town of Newark Valley Highway Superintendent position to be appointed by the Town Board.

In Richford, a proposed amendment would have allowed the establishment of retail cannabis dispensaries within the jurisdiction of the Town of Richford. This proposal was voted down, but only by a difference of eight votes out of the 204 votes rendered.