Since its creation, residents of the Incorporated Village of Bellport have been able to vote in the annual Village election. These elections have, by law, been overseen separate and apart from oversight by the Suffolk County Board of Elections and the Village Clerk, acting as the official election officer, has run them. Historically, Election Day for the Village was preceded by one or two "Village voter registration days" where all Village residents would have the opportunity to come to Village Hall to complete an application form to be added to the Village election roll. In that manner, they were entitled to vote in the June Village election.

All of the above was–and is–codified under the New York Election law (see Section 15 HTTP://www.elections.state.NY.us/NYSBOE/download/law/2008NYEL.pdf). It is a separate method of conducting elections in the Village only and has no affiliation with any County Board of Elections or other Incorporated Villages in New York State that hold such registration days. Indeed, registering to vote on the “Village voter registration day” does not make one eligible to vote in any other election except the Village election.

Over the years, the Village of Bellport and its Clerk also allowed residents to vote who were registered with the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Consequently, if registered with the County, you did not also have to register with the Village on its “registration day”. The Village Clerk simply had two rolls – the Village’s and the County’s – and honored both.

Around 2006, all that change when the Village Clerk, the election officer, no longer offered the “Village voter registration day” thereby eliminating an opportunity for residents to register to vote in only the Village election. Thereafter, only people who were listed on the County’s roll were allowed to vote thereby disenfranchising eligible voters. We want to re-establish the Village’s past practice of offering a Village registration day(s).

By your signature on this petition, we will ask the Village Board to re-establish the “Village voter registration day” and in so doing, providing the opportunity to vote to all Bellport village residents.

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