Officials Object To Sex Offenders Voting In School Polling Places

VALHALLA, NY — Local officials are concerned about an issue that's been getting a lot of traction on social media from New York Republicans in the past two days: the fact that the people pardoned this spring can vote in today's primaries.

State Sen. Terrence Murphy said he received calls from parents worried that a deviant level 3 sexual offender registered to vote at the Hawthorne Elementary School would show up to vote there.

"This past May, Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted conditional pardons to more than 24,000 criminals, including a number of dangerous level 3 sexual offenders. The controversial move allows them to vote in today's election primaries along with other ruthless felons like Herman Bell, who ambushed and murdered two police officers in 1971 and was paroled in April," Murphy (R,C 40th) said in a press release.

The press release did not discuss felons who have completed their prison sentences and/or parole. New Yorkers on probation after serving sentences for felonies, including sex offenders, are already eligible to vote.

The executive action this spring allowed individuals on parole who have no more than one felony conviction to apply to have their voting rights restored by a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities or a Certificate of Good Conduct. State rules also require sex offenders who receive a certificate and wish to vote to tell their parole officer, and restrict them to voting at school polling places only between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Murphy held a press conference Wednesday with elected and school officials, members of law enforcement and parents. Standing in the lobby of the Mt. Pleasant Police Station Murphy said there had been no communication from any state agencies. He said it left school officials, local police and local government grappling with how to handle a potentially dangerous situation.

"Public safety has always been our top priority," said Mt. Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi. "No one was notified. It would have made more sense to bring people together to discuss the Governor's intentions rather than allowing him to issue conditional pardons that will allow sex offenders access to children."

Murphy said there were too many unanswered questions about the level 3 offender who raped a 5-year-old being allowed to vote in a polling place in an elementary school.

"Yes, a parole officer has to be with a sex offender," Murphy said. "Is he meeting the parole officer there? Is he waiting at the school? Does the parole officer escort him off school property? How do we know he won't return? This current situation is unacceptable."

Lakeland School Superintendent George Stone said, "We've been saying for quite some time that public gatherings and school children don't mix. We're dealing with people who have shown they don't follow by the rules. A sex offender has to ask and be granted permission to come into one of our schools. So far, no one has asked."

Republicans have put together a legislative agenda package requesting that all schools be closed on Election Day "to help keep children safe from predators," Westchester County Board of Elections Commissioner Douglas Colety said.

Putnam County Board of Elections Commissioner Anthony Scannapieco criticized the pardons on other grounds too.

"Over 200 felons that were set free have already had their paroles revoked," he said. "This has been a poorly planned move from the beginning, and it will only get worse at the expense of innocent children and their families."

Meanwhile, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Paul Oliva said his department was taking its own steps. "We're going to station officers in each school, including between the hours of 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. when registered sex offenders have been directed to vote."

Responding to the statewide outcry, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said New York had joined 16 other states that let formerly imprisoned residents vote.

"The truth is, the governor’s action put New York on par with 16 other states — liberal and conservative — that restore voting rights to the formerly incarcerated and do so in the way that’s exactly prescribed by law," Azzopardi said.

The 2010 Brennan Center report Jim Crow in New York argued that the state's previous disenfranchisement policy was rooted in historical racism. The center reported this spring that nearly three-quarters of disenfranchised New Yorkers on parole are African American or Latino.

PHOTO: Also standing in support with Senator Murphy were Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble and Mt. Pleasant Town Councilman Anthony Amiano./ State Sen. Murphy's Office.