MONTICELLO, NY — In one of the more dramatic votes at the government center in Monticello in recent days, Luis Alvarez, chair of the Sullivan County Legislature, cast the deciding vote approving the appointment of Cora Edwards to the post of Democratic Election Commissioner on the Sullivan County Board of Elections.

Until the very end, it seemed as if Alvarez was moving in the other direction. Just a few minutes before the vote, he had sided with other legislators who voted not to allow public comment on the matter, a highly unusual move at the county’s public meeting, and one that drew angry rebukes from some in the audience and from a couple of the legislators.

But as his turn came to vote there was a four-to-four tie, and his vote would rule the day. He said, “I knew this was going to happen.” A woman shouted from audience, “This is your legacy,” and activist Sandy Oxford, who was holding up a big sign with a message in Spanish and aimed at the county’s first Hispanic chair, exchanged a few words with him.

Then he said, “I vote yes,” and the 60 or so people in the hearing room erupted into cheers and applause.

The vote meant that Cora Edwards, a former legislator who decided not to run again, will be joining the board of elections. Rather stunningly, Edwards, a Democrat, won with only one of the four Democratic votes available, and four of the five Republican votes.

Before the vote, some of the legislators explained why they intended to vote the way they did. A lot of the comments from her supporters said the decision was related to democratic values, and that because Edwards had been selected by the electorate—in this case, members of the Sullivan County Democratic Committee—it would be a subversion of process to overturn the will of those voters.

Majority leader Alan Sorensen read a bit from the Declaration of Independence, specifically the part that says, “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” again suggesting it would be illegitimate if the legislature overruled the will of the voters.

On the other side of the debate, Legislator Mark McCarthy said that there was an appearance of impropriety if Edwards took the office. He said that because she served on the county legislature until the end of last year, it appeared to be improper for her to ask that board to serve as an election commissioner before a year had elapsed.

Edwards spoke at one point and said she had received advice from four lawyers who told her that a waiting period does not apply to political appointments such as election commissioners.

At this meeting, legislators Scott Samuelson and Ira Steingart did not specify reasons for voting against Edwards, but in the previous legislature, Edwards held opposite positions from Samuelson and Steingart on several issues that received a lot of attention.