The Forward and JTA reported yesterday that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed last year against the Sullivan County, New York, Board of Elections by 27 Hasidic Jews whose voter registrations were among 156 in the Village of Bloomingburg that the Board of Elections had taken steps to cancel. The Election Board claimed that the voters were not really residents of the Village, which had a population of only 420 in the 2010 census. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement agreement the names will remain on the voter rolls. This is part of a larger dispute over the building of a high density 396-unit apartment development in Bloomingburg that will be marketed to members of the Satmar Hasidic community.
UPDATE: A Feb. 2 report by the New York Post says that the settlement, which the court has approved, includes the appointment of a monitor for 5 years to oversee the voting process (including review of the voter challenge questionnaire). Also voting materials and signs will be in both Yiddish and English. The county will pay damages of $25,000 and $550,000 in attorneys' fees.
