High Number of Write-In Ballots Reporting At Polling Sites

All are reporting higher than usual numbers of write-in ballots in Tuesday's annual vote for the 2012-2013 Patchogue-Medford School District budget and for open Board of Education seats.

BOE candidates William LaVelle, Christine Rignola and Anthony O'Brien are all officially running unopposed, but a to put trustee Tony Russo back on the ballot using a name technicality may be affecting the election.

“I have seen a write-in votes before during my time but not as much as this current election," said Judy Rohtla, a poll worker who has been working the polls for around 35 years.

Rothla noted that a lot of people are unfamiliar with the process of creating a write-in vote.

“You need to know what levers to push and where to write because there is nothing showing in the machine so we have been telling people and showing them how to," Rothla said. "At the end of the day we cut the paper off and count all of the names on the paper by hand.”

She also noted that the name of the candidate being written in must be an exact spelling. Misspellings of one person’s name will count as different people.

Regarding voter turnout, an estimated 40 people voted at Eagle Elementary School prior to 9 a.m. Tuesday. reported a total of 146 voters at noon while reported an estimated 200 voters.

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