Nassau County Board of Elections Chief Clerk Donna Moggid said on Wednesday, March 18, that she had received complaints Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy had altered the village voter roll before that day’s election.
Levy and three other incumbents on his slate had been disqualified earlier from appearing on the ballot after the board of elections found that six of the slate’s eight pages of petition signatures lacked a witness signature, as required by state election law.
Levy then announced he was not seeking reelection, but two of the incumbents – Trustee Hal Chadow and Village Justice Julia Gavriel – won their elections based on write-in votes.
A Saddle Rock poll worker, who works for the Nassau County Board of Elections and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that when he received the voter roll, he saw several marks in the book.
“There were at least 40 people who had been red-lined,” he said.
The poll worker said that in his over 15 years of experience, he had never worked on an election like Wednesday night’s.
The poll worker said Levy admitted to him that he made the changes to the voter roll, and that Levy said he was only removing people who did not live in the village.
Efforts to reach Levy were unavailing, and Clerk Carmela Speciale declined to comment.
Lanu Vanolphen, an 18-year-old resident who was voting for the first time, said his name had been removed from the list of eligible voters when he went to cast his ballot.
“When I went up to vote, my name was crossed out with a red line,” he said, “It’s kinda hurtful because I’ve lived here my whole life.”
Vanolphen said he was able to vote by signing an affidavit attesting to his residency in Saddle Rock.
Resident Eyal Shachi also said his daughter’s name was scratched off the village voter roll.
“When I went to vote, and I gave my name, I saw that my daughter’s name was marked with a red line,” he said.
Shachi said a poll worker said he was given the voter rolls already marked. He said after voting, he saw Levy in the parking lot and asked him about the marks on the voter roll.
“He said, ‘I take full responsibility,’” said Shachi.
Shachi’s daughter had to sign an affidavit before voting, her father said.
“She was intimidated, and I’ve seen other people who have been intimidated,” said Shachi.
County elections officials delivered an unmarked voter roll to replace the altered one after several residents said their names were crossed out on the roll and had to sign an affidavit ballot to vote.
Kambiz Akhavan, running for mayor, and trustee candidates Joshua Rabanipour and Kousha Askari on the Friendly Neighbors Party line all won their races in an election in which more than 600 ballots were cast. Voters kept flowing into the village hall, forming long lines that stretched outside the room where residents cast their ballots.
Trustee Robert Kraus, who lost a bid for mayor but will continue serving as trustee, said he was disappointed by the election’s outcome and by how it was conducted.
“It’s sad that this is people’s introduction to democracy,” said Kraus.
One of the central issues of the election was the temple reconstruction plans for the Saddle Rock Minyan, which burned down on the night of Yom Kippur in 2024. Saddle Rock Minyan had operated out of a residential building without a special use permit for several years, with the village’s knowledge.
Kraus and the trustee candidates with whom he was campaigning – Martine Alter, Vivian Kollenscher, and Sigalit Sanilevich – have been vocal opponents to the way the village has handled the temple, which operated in a residential home before it was destroyed by fire.
At the last board of trustees meeting, the village approved a special use permit for the Saddle Rock Minyan to operate, with Kraus casting the sole dissenting vote.
Kraus said the village had not required the temple to operate under its fire codes, which could have prevented the fire.
