The next step in a close special election for Saratoga Springs Public Works Commissioner is a court hearing Friday.
A late January special election for the DPW commissioner seat had only one name on the ballot — Republican Chuck Marshall.
City Democrats failed to nominate a candidate after a dispute over the election's timeline wound up in court. Democrats argued the election timeline approved by the city council in October was only a proposal while the Republican elections commissioner balked at the idea of a January special election.
Interim Commissioner Hank Kuczynski, a Democrat, had been selected to fill the role until an election to staff the post through the end of 2025 after former commissioner Jason Golub stepped down in August. Just weeks before the election, he mounted a write-in campaign to join the five-member city council for the remainder of the term.
Following an official count of election day, absentee, and early votes, Kuczynski was holding a narrow lead Monday, with contested ballots going before state Supreme Court Judge James Walsh this week.
City Republican Committee attorney Chris Obstarczyk is confident Marshall will come out on top, saying the GOP’s objections will diminish Kuczynski's current five-vote lead.
“There are 106 objections and a lot of these were markings outside of the write-in box where the case law is clear on that in terms of it’s prohibited. So those are invalid ballots that right now because the commissioners do not agree on those, those right now are in the Hank column so those are counting for Hank so, we believe the law is on our side to those votes not to count for Hank to give Chuck a considerable lead,” said Obstarczyk.
A majority of the contested votes are due to marks placed outside of the write-in box, ranging from a scribble to “Democrat” or “D” being written in an adjacent box.
Obstarczyk argues those ballots should be thrown out.
“Voters are given notice on proper instructions on what to do while you’re voting. So, I think the validity is there are certain things you can and cannot do. So, I would hope that people would respect that’s what the law is,” said Obstarczyk.
A number of write-in ballots were clearly not for Kuczynski. Voters wrote in Donald Trump, Jason Golub, and “any Democrat.”
Kuczynski says voter intent will be at the center of Friday’s hearing.
“Well, I think the overriding issue is the intent of the voter. So, if the voter has attempted to write ‘Hank Kuczynski’ in for commissioner of public works then that should be honored. We’ll see what the outcome of that particular review is and depending on the facts of that court appearance there is a strongly likelihood of an appeal if we are not successful on Friday. But what I will say is that when someone took the time to come out in January to write ‘Hank Kuczynski’ or a facsimile close enough then I believe the voter’s intent should be honored,” said Kuczynski.
As of the end of counting Monday afternoon, there were 1,765 votes for Kuczynski while Marshall tallied 1,760.
If the margin is .5% or less after Friday’s hearing, the court could trigger a recount.