Voters lining up at the Cochecton Town Hall.

RR photo by Liam Mayo

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Absentee ballots to determine winners

MONTICELLO, NY — Three weeks after the 2021 local elections in Sullivan County, official results are still pending.

According to the Sullivan County Board of Elections (BOE), the board is working on getting the results certified, and will post the final results on its website once that process concludes.

In the meantime, with absentee ballots counted for many of the county’s races, unofficial results have begun to emerge for several contested races.

The town council race in Cochecton had candidates John Nober and Kambri Crews within 14 votes before absentee ballots were counted, with Nober in the lead. He remained ahead after absentee ballots were counted, according to reports from Town of Cochecton Supervisor Gary Maas.

The Highland races for town supervisor and town council have reportedly concluded with Jeffrey Haas retaining his position as supervisor, with Kaitlin Haas and Christopher Tambini winning seats on town council.

In a Facebook post from Wednesday, November 17, Jeffrey Haas thanked those who had supported his campaign for reelection. “Being your Supervisor is a responsibility I don’t take lightly, but also an honor and a privilege,” he said. “I will continue to work tirelessly for the Town of Highland, to be responsive to the needs of all, and to make certain that we are a destination for home owners, weekenders, businesses and visitors alike.”

Challenger John Pizzolato conceded the race in a Facebook post of his own the previous day, on Tuesday, November 16, congratulating Haas on his victory and wishing him success in making Highland a place for everyone to thrive. “It was the honor of a lifetime being welcomed into your homes, to talk about what is important to you, and how we can come together to truly lift each other up.”

Another of the county’s contested races, the supervisor’s race in Fallsburg, remains in limbo.

The BOE reported over 900 absentee ballots received for the election from Fallsburg, around half of the county-wide absentee ballot total. While most of the races were counted in alphabetical order, the BOE decided to count the ballots from Fallsburg following the counts for the other towns.

The count of absentee ballots will not start until November 29, according to the BOE.

In the meantime, candidate Katherine Rappaport filed a suit with the Sullivan County Supreme Court on Friday, November 12; the suit includes language calling for an order “invoking the jurisdiction of the Court to rule upon the casting or canvassing or the refusal to cast or canvass any ballot… [and] declaring [Rappaport] the lawfully elected candidate in this Election and ordering the certification of [Rappaport] by Respondent Board of Elections.”

Prior to the absentee ballots being counted, incumbent supervisor Stephen Vegilante leads over Rappaport by 406 votes, earning 1,102 votes to Rappaport’s 696.