Saratoga Democrats avoid complaints over voting site signage | News

A photo of the site outside the city’s recreation center was posted Saturday on the committee’s Facebook page with a caption questioning the legality of the signs.

It is not clear who placed the signs there.

Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee Chairman Otis Maxwell said it’s not worth taking further action on the issue.

“It’s tempting, but it’s a bit of a confusing situation,” he said. “There are so many people involved and they were going to make it go away one way or another.”

These documents complied with the state’s polling location distancing requirements, but would have violated local code. Political sign requirements differ from municipality to municipality, according to the Saratoga County Board of Elections.

“If I was a Republican, I would be a little more careful and realize that I should be behaving exemplarily, but that’s not what they’re doing,” Maxwell said.

Saratoga Springs Republican Committee Chairman Michael Brandi maintains that the posting of the signs was not done on behalf of his organization.

He believes that the situation has been exaggerated by the opposition party. He shared a text photo showing two people waving signs in support of the Equal Rights Amendment favored by Democrats outside the recreation center Monday afternoon.

“It’s something that’s done every year,” Brandi said of the signs. “If you drive around on Election Day, you will see Republican and Democratic signs covering polling places beyond 100 feet.”

Photos: Saratoga Voices at Saratoga High Auditorium

(Under state election law, political signs must be within 100 feet of a polling location. At the recreation center, the signs exceeded that measurement, according to Saratoga County’s Democratic Election Commissioner , Cassandra Bagramian.)

Dillon Moran, the city’s auditor, pursued the removal of the signage in his official capacity following what he said was a complaint filed with city police.

Brandi said such actions should have been specifically pursued by law enforcement instead of Moran, who is also vice chair of the Saratoga County Democratic Committee.

“Is it because (Moran) wants the Democratic candidates to have some sort of advantage because they didn’t see a (Democrat) sign coming in?” » asked Brandi.

Brandi and Moran already have some composure. Over the summer, Judge Dianne Freestone approved a court order requested by Brandi and attorney Chris Obstarczyk to freeze the auditor’s statutory payments.

Moran views Brandi’s latest attacks as an attempt to distract the public from the election.

“People can say a lot of things,” Moran said. “Mike Brandi is a horrible lawyer and he doesn’t know anything.”

Moran said he and Public Safety Commissioner Timothy Coll responded to the situation, but declined to say whether he, in particular, physically removed any of the signs.

“Dude, I’m not going to get into this with you,” Moran said. “This is such a stupid conversation. The fact that we are talking about this makes me angry because it distracts us so much from what is in front of us.

Coll in an email recalled arriving at the recreation center Saturday afternoon. No political signs were visible, he noted.

“It is my understanding that Commissioner Moran has removed the signage,” Coll wrote.

Signage photographed by the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee appeared to show campaign materials for state Sen. James Tedisco and Saratoga County Treasurer candidate JoAnn Kupferman.

Treasurer candidate Michele Madigan (D) briefly held signs outside the Recreation Center. She removed them herself after hearing from law enforcement and deciding they were in bad taste, according to a comment by the Democrat on Facebook.

The allegations related to the signage have been a key point of local controversy throughout this election cycle. Groups such as the Ballston Republican Committee and numerous individuals, including Moran, have claimed to have had their political signage stolen.

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