Matter of Brown v. Mahan
Opinion
Matter of Brown v Mahan
2025 NY Slip Op 31501(U)
April 29, 2025
Supreme Court, Saratoga County Docket Number: Index No. EF20251374 Judge: James E. Walsh
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication.
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 24 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/29/2025
SUPREM E COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF SARATO GA
In the Matter of t he Applicatio n of JEFFREY R. BROWN, DECISIO N AND ORDER
Petitioner -Candidat e Aggrieved , -and-
CHRIS O'HARA,
Petitioner -Objector
-against- RJI # 45-1-2025 -0525 Index #EF20251 374
RYAN MAHAN,
Responde nt-Candid ate,
-a nd-
SARATOGA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIO NS, Responde nts,
For an Order Pursu an t to Sections 16-100, 16-102(1), (2) and 16-116 of the Election Law, And CPLR Section 3001, Declaring Invalid t he Republica n Party Designati ng Petitions Purportin g To Nominate Ryan Mahan as a Candidate for the Public Office of Saratoga County Sheriff, In the State of New York, in t he Primary Election to be Held June 24, 2025, a nd to Restrain t he said Saratoga County Board of Elections from Printing and Placin g t he Name Ryan [Ma han] on t he Republica n Party line on Official Ballots of Such Primary a nd/or General Election.
Appeara nces:
John J. Ciampoli, Esq., Of Counsel to Fusco Law Office Attorneys for Petitioner s Capitol Station P.O. Box 7114 Albany, New York 12224
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Joel E. Abelove, Esq. Abelove Law, P .C. Attorneys for Responde nt-Ca ndidate Rya n Mahan 1702a Central Avenue Albany, New York 12205
George P . Conway, Esq. Saratoga County Attorney Attorneys for Responde nt Saratoga County Board of Elections 40 McMaste r Street Ballston Spa, New York 12020
Walsh , J .
The instant m atter is brought on by Petition and Order to Show Cause under Article 16 of t he New York State Election Law, filed on April 15, 2025, a nd made returnable on April 25, 2025. A hearing was conducted by t he Court on April 25, 2025 and the parties wer e directed to file a ny post-hear ing submissio ns to the Court by
April 28, 2025 at 1:00 p.m., which both parties have done. Petitioner -Candidat e
1
Aggrieved Brown (Petitione r) asserts t hat Responde nt-Candidate engaged in fraudulen t conduct in collecting a sign ature for designati n g petitions a nd must be stricken from the ballot. P etitioner-Objector contends th at four other signature s are permeate d wit h fraud , as obtained by other subscribin g witnesses. Responde nt- Candidate argues that th e ca ndidate did not knowingly en gage in a ny fra udulent conduct, nor witness any such fraud, a nd t hat a sufficient number of va lid signature s
1
Consistent with its position during the proceedings, Respond ent Saratoga County Board of Electio ns provided the required evidence, but did not take a position on the relief requested in post-hearing submissions.
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have been presented to secure access to the ballot in the primary election to be conducted on June 24, 2025.
The parties stipulated that 1,000 valid signatures were r equired to secure access to the ballot on the Republican party line for the position of Saratoga County Sheriff (see Election Law §6-136). Respondent-Candidate submitted 1,440 signatures and Petitioners objected to 355 as invalid. Respondent-Candidate witnessed several nominating petitions that were submitted as part of his application to t he Saratoga County Board of Elections. As an aggrieved candidate, Petitioner Brown "was not required to file objections and specifications to the petition prior to commencin g [the invalidation] proceeding." Matter of Magee v. Camp, 253 AD2d 573 [3 rd Dept. 1998].
Petitioners assert t hat Respondent-Candidate engaged in fraud on one petition where Judith Bussing admitted that she signed her husband's name outside of Respondent-Candidate's prese nce, which he attested to witnessing. Petitioners also asserted that Marybeth Sauter signed her husband's name on a petition carried by John Gaba and stated in her affidavit that she thought she was signing the petition in favor of Petitioner Brown. Yvonne Knights submitted an affidavit that she signed for her husband on a petition carried by Kyle Loucks. Sarah Esson and Franklin Esson submitted affidavits attesting to signing a petition carried by John Gaba, but that they thought that Gaba himself was the candidate, not Responde nt-Candidate Mahan.
"A candidate's designating petition will be invalidated on the ground of fraud if there is a showing that the e ntire petition is permeated with fraud. " Matter of
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Felder v. Storobin, 100 AD3d 11, 15 [2 nd Dept. 20 12]. "Even when the designating petition is not permeated with fraud, t he petition generally will be invalidated where the candidate has participated in or is chargeable with knowledge of the fraud." Matter of Volino v. Calvi, 87 AD3d 657, 658 [2 nd Dept. 2011]. Here, four instances of fraud are alleged concerning the Sauter, Knights and Essons signatures. Each signature was procured by a subscribing witness other th an the candidate and no proof was adduced that Respondent- Candidate participated in or was aware of any alleged impropriety. Further, as such constituted only four of more than 1400 such signatures, it cannot be said that this alleged fraud permeates the entire petition. See, Matter of Steinert v. Daly , 118 AD3d 808 [2 nd Dept. 2014].
Turning to th e allegation regarding the Bussing signature, the allegation is that Judith Bussing signed her husband Douglas' name, outside the presence of Respondent-Candidate, who then attested to personally witnessing the signature. The subject petition, just like all petitions at issue h ere, contained a jurat for the subscribing witness, which reads as follows:
I, _ _ __ ____, state: I am a duly qualified vote of the State of New York and am an enrolled voter of the Republican Party. I now reside at (residence address) _ __ _ _ _ _. Each of the individuals whose names are subscribed to this petition sheet containing, (FILL IN NUMBER) __ signatures, subscribed the same in my presence on the dates above indicated and identified himself or herself to be the individual who sign ed this sheet. I understand that this statement will be accepted for all purposes as t he equivalent of an affidavit and, if it contains a material false statement, shall subject me to the same penalties as if I had bee n duly sworn. (See NYS Election Law§ 6-132)
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Petitioner submitted proof in affidavit form that Ms. Bussing signed the subject petition on behalf of her husband and did so outside the presence of the subscribing witness, the Respondent-Candidate. Mr. Mahan testified begrudgingly that he permitted Ms. Bussing to take the clipboard with the petition into he r home, where he testified that she disappeared from view and had a conversation with a male figure , who was assumed to be Douglas Bussing, Ms. Bussing's husband. Then, Ms. Bussing returned to the door and handed Respondent-Candidate the petition on the clipboard containing both her and Mr. Bussing's signature.
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