Citing a conflict of interest and incorrect conclusions, Common Cause NY, Free Speech For People and the League of Women Voters of Rensselaer County are calling on the state attorney general to pursue an independent investigation into the vote count errors that occurred in the November 2025 County elections. 

The November election night results determined that a budget increase for the Stephentown Memorial Library was defeated by a margin of 528 to 60, making it ineligible for a recount according to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections (RCBOE). The Board initially adamantly defended the results. 

After the library gathered statements from more than 200 voters that affirmed they had voted in favor of the budget, the RCBOE agreed to conduct a manual recount. The recount reversed the budget loss, with it passing 540 to 279. The recount also found that two other ballot questions had been incorrectly determined, including a proposal that would have ended the East Greenbush volunteer rescue squad service program. 

Joan Rogers, president of the League of Women Voters of Rensselaer County, said, “We have called for an investigation because of the way the Board of Elections responded to news of a potential miscount. We are concerned that the voters have no assurance that this error – or similar errors – will be prevented, acknowledged, or corrected in the future.”

Public records obtained by the groups show that the RCBOE asked its voting system vendor, Clear Ballot, to determine what went wrong. Clear Ballot responded the next day with an assessment that determined that its tabulators did not malfunction. The explanation provided by the vendor also included statements that were incorrect and/or inconsistent with statements made by the RCBOE. 

“Errors can happen in elections,” said Susan Greenhalgh, senior advisor for election security at Free Speech For People. “What’s so concerning about this incident is the Board of Election’s initial refusal to consider the possibility that there was a mistake. It’s even more troubling that once it realized there was an error in the count, the Board relinquished its responsibility to find out what went wrong and instead, apparently relied on the vendor – despite the vendor’s clear conflict of interest. Most importantly, the Board then ignored what are plainly inconsistent and inaccurate claims made by the vendor in its assessment.” 

“Clearly, procedures avoiding conflicts of interest need to be in place when the possibility of machine error is raised by candidates, sponsoring organizations, or voters. We hope the Attorney General will conduct an investigation that will illuminate what went wrong and lead to new regulations setting procedures to assure similar issues do not arise in the future, “ said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause NY.

The letter concludes, “[a] thorough and comprehensive, independent investigation is necessary to fully understand what went wrong, and what changes should be made going forward,” to protect “all counties in New York State and prevent future miscounts.”

The letter can be read here.