A local school board race on Long Island has been thrown into chaos after a New York education official ordered a do-over amid explosive allegations of ballot destruction and election rigging.
According to Gateway Pundit, the controversy centers on the Hempstead Union Free School District, where a petition alleges that District Clerk April Keys shredded ballots and helped remove them from her office to benefit board president Victor Pratt in his May 19 reelection bid. As reported by the New York Post, the petition claims Keys actions helped Pratt win the race, prompting State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to intervene and mandate a new election within 60 days of her ruling.
The district, clearly eager to contain the fallout, issued a carefully worded statement to the Post: The Board appreciates the Commissioners expeditious review of this matter, which enables the District to move forward with the revote in accordance with the Commissioners ruling. Keys, who has since been placed on administrative leave, allegedly tore up multiple ballots, threw them into a dumpster, and handed Pratt a local DJ known as DJ Vic-Lover absentee ballots for disposal.
Their blatantly illegal actions appeared to have an impact, as the final tally showed a glaring imbalance between absentee and in-person votes that raised immediate red flags. Pratt won the election by a narrow margin with just 81 more votes, yet, as the Daily Mail reported, he led in absentee ballots with 87 percent and only came in third on machine voting results, with 27 percent.
Three days after the election, Keys was removed from her position on administrative leave, and that same day District Superintendent Gary Rush discovered a garbage bag stuffed with stolen, ripped-up ballots, according to the petition. The bag, which contained ballots cast for both Pratt and his main challenger, Gwendolyn Jackson, was later found standing in a foot of water.
The scheme allegedly drew in an unlikely accomplice: a school janitor. According to the petition, a janitor discarded the bag while the locks on Keys door were being changed, and He later led investigators to it, where it was standing in a foot of water.
The petition further alleges that Keys actively tried to conceal the operation from other staff, warning one individual to avoid scrutiny from security. Ms. Keys told him to use a different staircase because the security aide stationed at the bottom of the staircase by the administrative offices would ask questions and it risked appearing suspicious, the petition notes. For many conservatives who have long warned about the vulnerabilities of absentee voting and the ease with which local officials can manipulate results, the Hempstead scandal is yet another reminder that election integrity is not a partisan talking point but a basic requirement for public trust.
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