Hundreds of absentee ballots still to be counted in LI primaries

Long Island primary voters went to the polls Tuesday in four towns in Suffolk County and in two cities in Nassau, but the hundreds of absentee ballots remain to be counted.

More than 11,000 voters enrolled in political parties cast ballots in Nassau and Suffolk on Tuesday. Also, more than 1,600 voters in both counties voted during the nine-day period of early voting that ended on Sunday, county Board of Elections officials said.

But hundreds of absentee ballots that won't be counted until after primary day still could be a factor in close races with lower turnout.

In Suffolk's town races, 2,525 absentee ballots out of 3,764 sent to voters had yet to be returned, Republican Elections Commissioner Nick LaLota said Tuesday.

Nassau elections officials said 514 absentee ballots were requested in City Council races in the City of Long Beach and 190 were returned and validated. In the council races in the City of Glen Cove, 280 absentee ballots were requested and 112 were returned and validated, officials said.

In East Hampton, with all 19 election districts reporting, incumbent Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc was leading Councilman Jeffrey Bragman for the top town office.

Van Scoyoc, 62, of East Hampton, the incumbent, has served 21 years in town government. He has been supervisor since 2018, and before that spent six years as a councilman and 11 on other town land use boards.

Before becoming supervisor, he owned a residential construction and renovation company and a seasonal charter fishing business.

Bragman, 70, of East Hampton, has served as a town councilman since 2018. His town board seat expires at the end of the year.

Bragman is a land use attorney and has served as an adviser to various town land use committees.

Because Bragman also is endorsed by the Independence Party, he will be on the ballot in November regardless of the outcome of the Democratic primary.

In Huntington, three candidates sought the Democratic nomination for two town council seats. One of those candidates also was vying against two others for the Working Families Party ballot line for two council seats.

Four candidates were seeking the Working Families nomination for two Southampton Town Council seats.

WFP officials said some former Republicans and Conservatives switched their enrollment this year to the minor party and then submitted petitions to run primaries against WFP candidates.

Officials of the minor party, whose candidates often back progressive issues and sometimes also have the Democratic ballot line, said the efforts imperil their candidates and mislead voters.

Suffolk County Republican chairman Jesse Garcia said the primaries were an "intraparty issue" because of "a civil war" over the future of the Democratic and Working Families parties.

In the City of Long Beach, seven candidates were running for three City Council seats in a Democratic primary.

And in Glen Cove, seven candidates were seeking Democratic nominations for six City Council seats.

The Suffolk primaries were:

East Hampton

Supervisor: Van Scoyoc was leading Bragman for the Democratic nomination.

Council: Incumbent Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Cathy A. Rogers were leading John P. Whelan for the Democratic nomination for two seats on the town council.

Southampton

Council: Thomas Schiavoni and Robin L. Long were leading Miranda P. Schultz and Sean P. McArdle for the Working Families nomination for two seats.

Highway superintendent: Thomas F. Neely was leading Mark Braeger for the Working Families Party nomination.

Huntington

Supervisor: Rebecca L. Sanin beat Marissa Anderson for the Working Families nomination.

Council: Jennifer A. Hebert and Joseph G. Schramm Jr. were ahead of Hunter J. Gross for the Democratic nomination for 2 seats.

Hebert and Robert A. Smitelli were ahead of Michael J. Oddo for the Working Families nominations for two seats.

Islip

Receiver of taxes: Andrew T. Wittman III was leading Michael S. Siniski for the Republican nomination.

Glen Cove

City Council: Roderick Watson, Eve Lupenko Ferrante, Marsha F. Silverman, John L. Perrone, Danielle Fugazy Scagliola, Rocco A. Totino and Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews were locked in tight races for the Democratic nomination for six seats.

Long Beach

City Council: Tina M. Posterli, Kevin C. Heller, William R. Notholt, Leah E. Rosensweig Tozer, Paulette Waithe, Roy Lester and John D. Bendo were competing for the Democratic nomination for three open seats.

Suffolk elections officials said 950 Republican absentee ballots still were outstanding out of 1,369 sent out in Islip; 1,039 of 1,493 Democratic and WFP absentee ballots were outstanding in Huntington; 223 of 382 Democratic absentee ballots were outstanding in East Hampton; and in Southampton, 313 Democratic, Conservative and WFP ballots were outstanding out of 520 sent out.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked or dropped off at a polling site by Tuesday to be counted. Officials begin counting them seven days after Election Day.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.