Katz touts bill targeting voter fraud
The following press release was issued by the office of Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, following a press conference Friday morning.
With a major voter fraud case currently unfolding in the state, Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, was joined today by Putnam County Executive Mary Ellen Odell and board of elections commissioners from throughout the 99th Assembly District at a press conference on the steps of the Historical Putnam County Courthouse to announce new statewide legislation that targets the high incidences of voter fraud in our state.“This legislation is a simple, commonsense measure that will go a long way toward ensuring elections in New York State are more secure, and represent the actual residents of a community,” said Assemblyman Katz. “Government-issued photo identification is already required in every other facet of life; there is no reason why our democratic-process should be excluded from this basic safeguard.”
A strong advocate for reforming the democratic process, Assemblyman Katz was prompted to author and introduce this original legislation after the highly-publicized case of widespread voter fraud in Troy, New York went to trial earlier this year. The opening arguments for the case began Monday after more than a year of investigations led to the indictments of a city council member, two county officials and a board of elections commissioner on more than 116 counts of alleged forgery or possession of forged ballots during the 2009 Working Families Party primary. Four others have already pleaded guilty in the case.
The ongoing Troy case is not the only time the Working Families Party has been associated with voter fraud. Following the 2008 Presidential elections, the national media attention was focused on exposing the widespread cases of voter fraud contributed to ACORN, the community-action organization that works in close partnership with the Working Families Party throughout the country. In fact, the media attention led to a series of investigations on ACORN including in Washington State, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Nevada where the Las Vegas registrar of voters publicly commented that he believed as much as 48 percent of ACORN’s voter forms are “clearly fraudulent.”
Assemblyman Katz stated, “My legislation is not politically-motivated. I am not looking at one particular party but throughout our state and nation’s history there have been widespread attempts to fix elections through voter fraud. From Tammany Hall to Troy, voter fraud has too long corrupted our elections – and as a people’s representative, I believe it is high time we took some common-sense action to get our elections back.”
The new legislation, Assembly Bill 9041, requires that all voters bring with them and present government-issued photo identification at the polls. Currently, 31 states require all voters to show ID before voting, with 15 states requiring this identification to include a photo. These states include Georgia, Indiana, Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi, Hawaii, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Putnam County BOE Commissioner Anthony Scannapieco said, “As a Commissioner of Elections for 21 years, this legislation is long overdue. People must provide photo identification in almost every aspect in life today. As the Assemblyman has mentioned just a few of the voter fraud cases throughout this nation, it is time that the State of New York get on board to protect the integrity of its elections. It is no surprise to me that those who were concerned with fraud and demanded voting machines with a verified paper trail would now object to the simplest of protections by providing a photo ID.”
According to statistics compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, roughly 1,000 voter fraud bills have been introduced in 46 states since 2001 with 18 states passing major legislation to combat voter fraud or tighten existing voter ID requirements. Although legislation has been introduced during this time regarding voter fraud in New YorkState, the legislature has failed to vote on any bills that would safeguard elections from voter fraud during this time.
Dutchess County BOE Commissioner Erik Haight stated, “The efforts of Assemblyman Katz to reduce voter fraud in New YorkState is valiant and should be applauded. Requiring photo ID at the polls would be a step in the right direction and easy to implement; however, I doubt the democratically-controlled Assembly would permit any common sense legislation like this to ever see the light of day.”
Putnam County Executive Mary Ellen Odell said, “This is a step to ensure that one of the most important American citizens’ rights is secured and should further remind people of their right and duty to vote.”
Assemblyman Katz’s legislation, A.9041, has currently been referred to the Assembly’s Election Law Committee. With this year’s elections just a few months ahead, Assemblyman Katz encourages citizens who are in support of the bill to contact their state legislators to ask them to become a sponsor of the bill, or to contact Assemblyman Michael Cusick, the Chair of the Assembly Election Law Committee, and ask that the bill be considered for an up-or-down vote by the full Assembly. To contact Assemblyman Cusick, please e-mail his office at cusickm@assembly.state.ny.us or write to him at his legislative office: The Honorable Michael Cusick, LegislativeOfficeBuilding, Room 724, Albany, New York 12248.
Westchester County BOE Commissioner Douglas Colety said, “I applaud Assemblyman Katz for introducing this necessary piece of legislation. Our state should take all measures necessary to ensure our right to vote, which stands as one of the cornerstones of our nation, is protected from any and all potential fraudulent actions. Requiring photo identification to vote is exactly the kind of common sense solution Albany should embrace. This measure will assist in validating the people’s voice at the polls and further protect our democratic institution.”
Assemblyman Katz said, “This year between redistricting, the Presidential election and the many special elections in our region, it is more important than ever that Albany take an aggressive and proactive stand on combating voter fraud. My bill is a very simple step, that could be implemented at no cost, yet help ensure that our elections are more honest.”
Note: The original post was edited to clarify that it is a submitted press release.
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I like seeing that Doug Colety supports this legeslation. I bet he is sorry now that the Republician party didn’t support Katz when he ran for the Assembly last year. Katz has shown to be a real leader.
Doug has told people he made a big mistake not supporting Katz last time, and promises his full support this time around. They been spending a lot of time working together. I think he’s right. i havent heard about the dutchess comissh. this leg. is good, it’s about time, better late than never.
Another attempt to disinfrancise legitimately registered voters by a Republican when nationwide voter fraud statistically is not an issue. What has been documented is that in states like Florida historically controlled by Republicans, turnout in largely Democratic districts is suppressed by having an insufficient number of poll workers to accommodate people wanting to. Katz isn’t jntroducing anything “new” its the same tactics tried in South Carolina, and ArizonaThe same mantra all Republicans use to limit votes from tranditionally Democratic districts. Nobody wants voter fraud, but how about something simpler, like a fingerprint if what is now in place matching signatures to the voter registration logs located at every polling station, that pole worker check before allowing someone to vote.
I am a former Elections Commissioner in New York State, and so I have some idea what I’m talking about.
Katz’s proposal is a classic bait-and-switch. Katz and people like him want voters to show IDs when they go to the polling place, but voter fraud at the polling place is virtually unheard of. To the extent there are vote fraud problems (and they are actually very rare) they occur mainly with absentee ballots, where ballots are mailed in and it’s difficult to know who got their hands on them, cast the votes, and mailed them in. Obviously, making voters show ID cards at the polling place does not have any impact on votes that are mailed in.
In short, Katz’s proposal is a fraud. It mainly interferes with legitimate voters without doing anything about the one area of voting that is the most susceptible to illegal voting.
If you were a commissioner, and are now an ex-commissioner, advocate NOW vociferously for voting legitimacy whether it’s in person or absentee. Forget your bait and switch conspiracy theories and get the job done. Period. The true frauds are the political phonies of either party who call the opposition names and clamor for propriety while having done, and do nothing to correct these outrages when they were in position to do something about them. Stop with the lame finger pointing and back proper laws to police and enforce correct and honest voting.
Greg Ball is backing Dario Gristina against Katz. Don’t believe anything else you hear.
Know it!!
“Greg Ball is backing Dario Gristina against Katz” Glad to hear it because every other fool who’s been propped up by Ball has lost. Katz is one of the only people who ran with Ball that actually won. Ball will just soak Gristina for as much cash as he can get out of him. It’s all about Ball.
who was it that cited Greg Ball as the reason why Katz won in 2010? if everyone Ball supports winds up losing, except for Steve katz, what does that tell you about the people the republican party puppeted up against Katz? its the only reason katz won= weak competition.
this time will be different we think
Katz is weak and broke. His name recognition amongst actual voters is horrible.
He sits in a solid Republican seat. The only game is the primary.
Any conservative candidate with the proper funding could win against Dr. Do-Little.
That said, I am sure this primary is more about ‘teaching doc do-little a lesson’ and making him spend his resources, rather than beating Katz.
I doubt highly Senator Ball would spend 5 seconds worrying about this race, and a Minority GOP Assemblyman who can’t pass a single bill, or deliver a single thing for the district.
Katz was disloyal, and it looks like he is in for a $250,000+ lesson in Loyalty and Honor. Great work Dr. Do-Little!
Go Borkowski!!
Dario has the full backing of Greg Ball, the same thing that ANYONE running for that seat would desperately want. But Dario’s got it. And $200,000 in the bank to start himself off. Ball wants and needs someone in the Assembly he can work with, so you’re wrong, Ball is closely watching this race and doing all he can to get Dario Gristina elected. You should jump on board!
Kats is correct. Watch the Dems in the Assembly vote it down. They like corrupt elections, maybe?
Is it true Katz has a record?
And something about a dog and a dumpster??
He has a record? Didn’t even know he sang.
Here is anti-illegal alien Dr Do-Little http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX7O6h8cHR0&feature=endscreen&NR=1
what a fake
Dario Gristina has the full backing of Greg Ball, and anyone running for Assembly would want Greg Ball’s support. Don’t try to now claim having Ball’s support isn’t important just because Ball ignored other supposed candidate hopefuls. They make a formidable team.
It’s Katz vs. Gristina, with Gristina having the advantage.
Being a Republican in the Assembly is like being a baby tuna in a shark tank. If Gristina wants to be of help, let him aspire to a seat presently held by a Democrat! If it’s a simple ego trip on his part, or Ball’s, neither belongs in government anyway.
Gristina 2012 – Dario Gristina has $200,000 in his campaign account because that’s how much he loaned it. He only received $500 in actual campaign donations from like 4 people total. Not exactly a strong showing of actual grassroots support.
what does it matter if he loaned it or received it or won it in a lottery or his parents gave it to him? The fact is he HAS it to spend. Do you have excuses for everything? Is it “grass roots support” when a candidate receives most of his money from unions and committees and very little from the tax-paying public? Putting up his own money shows how committed he is to the race.
impressive, inside! A whole 141 youtube hits in 18 months. and the piece is suppose to prove what? what does “official language” have to do with reaching out to your target audience in their native language? Official language legislation would not prevent people from speaking a foreign language. If Katz made a commercial in spanish, with a business in the south bronx, I’d say that’s smart marketing.
I don’t know. Ask your boy Greg if it’s grass roots support when your campaign is loaded with “unions and committees” money and let us all know. He would certainly know…..Katz also has plenty of his own money so I guess that makes him pretty committed too.
The Whiz is Little Greggy himself. Ironic that he talks about loyalty.
you make no sense, on any issue. like a basketball bouncing and bouncing. You get proven wrong so you jump to something else. Greg Ball doesn’t need “grass roots support” like YOU mentioned earlier. He has major support on the national level. Grass roots was 5 years ago. So tell us oh wise one. If it aint Katz and it aint Dario Gristina then who is it for Assembly? Please, no jokes. Be serious.
I just read Throw out the Ball. Obviously your trying to cause a diversion, because The Whiz is not Greg Ball. Anyone who knows Ball knows he’d never write any of that turd. He doesn’t call Katz the stupid name of Dr. do-little. Ball isn’t Leibell….he doesn’t make candidates spend money for the sake of spending money…..that was Leibell, and that’s why he’s in federal custody, along with his hatchet man.
What else…..
Ball is very concerned about this seat and has spent more than 5 seconds thinking about it. He needs an Assemblyman he can work with. Greg Ball never said Katz was “disloyal”; unlike Leibell, Ball doesn’t expect people to bow down and die, selling your morals in the process. That was Leibell….how quickly you forget! And Ball would NEVER say “Go Borkowski”, not even as a joke.
Face it, Ball’s the man now.
Good to know that in your words, outside, that “Greg ball doesn’t need grass roots support” because he has “national support.” Way to prove the point that Greg could care less about the support of people in his district, you know, the ones he represents, because the people on the national level support him. Outside interests dictating his agenda. My comment was in response to Gristina2012 talking about union and committee money, which I took to mean he thought it was a negative thing, hence my comment directing him to Gregs filings. So don’t tell me I was proven wrong and changing the subject. Clearly, my initial comment hit a nerve. I didn’t say whether Katz or Gristina was the better candidate. My initial point was simply to show that bragging about having 200k when that money came from the candidate vs raising the money from people who believe in your candidacy doesn’t exactly show a lot of local support. Hope you are able to make sense of all this now.
It’s Greggy … or Jimmy or Danny. All the same. Hope you boys have fun playing with yourselves. Together you are a very creepy group.
Ball has modeled himself after Leibell. Vinnie was always his idol and now he’s trying to be Santa himself. Good chance he ends up in jail too.
As far as Gristina’s $200k, it’s more than a little disconcerting that he’s got that cash while his business has declared bankruptcy.
the only nerve you hit was the laughter nerve.
How much money did Greg Ball ever get from Vincent Leibell? Either directly or through that Victory Fund? You wanna start throwing around who is patterned after whom? Ball did nothing but put up with Leibell’s attacks for 5 years. Even when the FBI was breathing down Leibell’s neck, and Leibell knew he was dirty to the core, he blamed Greg Ball for the investigation. Leibell has never apologized. And Greg has never made a dime off of any of his relationships, where Leibell is on federal tape demanding 50% kickbacks of taxpayer monies.
I just wanted to point out that while you were changing your name from one thing to another, you mis-spelled “out”. You wrote “our” instead. I guess you were in such a rush to get your message out there you typed a little bit too fast.
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL.
thanks for so much concern about Dario Gristina. He just got into this thing and hasn’t even officially announced, so give him a break, will ‘ya? Sounds like you can’t wait to attack him. He hasn’t held a single fundraiser. Frankly. I’ll be much more concerned when the list comes out showing how much money certain fools received from VINCENT LEIBELL, including under the table and third party transfers.
“UMMMMMMMMMMM”
Outside, If that’s what you really believe (that GB isn’t patting anyone down), I predict that you will be rationalizing/defending his disgraceful actions in the coming months when the truth’s exposed. That’s what the groupies of the creepster Greg Ball have the tendency to do. That is, until they one day admit what they’ve known all along.
Gristina, why would anyone give you a break. You are issuing press statements and doing robocalls and speaking out of turn about another candidate whose platform seems to be identical to yours all because Greg Ball is mad that Steve Ball won’t be led on a leash. With your baggage, and it’s not just the bankruptcy, you should know that GB is just looking to use you… it’s what he does … save your money and your time and energy. You won’t get that time back.
so now Greg Ball is patting people down for money. Just like you probably did to Vinny Leibell, but I guess that’s different, right?.
were you used by Vinny Leibell when he gave you money? talk about disgraceful actions coming out in the next several months! We won’t hold back on any loser third party candidates.
whiz: why is Katz “weak and broke?” What makes him “weak and broke?” Explain. It’s going to take a lot more than you calling him names to think you can unseat him, if you have someone that wants to run for ther 99ad
Dr Do-Little:
a) absent on the day his first bill passed (no, it wasn’t the broken leg)
b) More Missed Committee Votes than 90% of legislators
c) Actually runs a business catering to illegals
d) Switched vote on Middle Class Tax Hike in the period of three hours
e) Worst Attendance Rate in the Legislature (no show Job)
...and then there is the oppo.
none of this stuff you be able to prove. Not that anyone would care.
So you have the dates his leg was broken? Do you have the x-rays too? Listen to yourself (”...and then there’s the oppo”). Runs a business catering to illegals? I’ve heard & read some pretty ignorant things here but this takes the cake. You check the citizen status of Kat’s customers? There’s no way you could possibly know that, except your trying to appeal to people’s racism and fears, claiming that anyone who speaks spanish is an illegal alien. Whoever you are, if you are thinking of running, or have a candidate who wants to run, I would get rid of that one-liner right now. You look like a jerk just writing it.
Switched vote on middle class in three hours? THREE HOURS? What were you following him or something? Or are you just throwing that out there because it sounds dramatic? and the “worst attendance rate” thing is not true.
Be careful about what you call “oppo”. I hear this race may be a real beast.
talk about “oppo”, I see the history of the putnam county victory fund is going to be unveiled. A fund that Leibell had full control over. Four years ago, the fund had a balance of $106,000. Today? The balance is $411.32. And 80% of that went to Vinny Leibell (through McGuire’s phoney consultant company). The other 19% went to Vinny’s cronies. Talk about “oppo”! But I’m sure your proof that Katz caters to illegals is as strong as the proof that money was stolen out of that Victory fund.
So who’s running for the 99th AD? Serious contenders only.
A new article says Katz may run against Ball for Senate. http://www.thedailypeekskill.com/news/katz-mulls-possible-run-against-sen-ball. This article exposes Katz as a phony conservative and possibly a democratic operative. Greg Ball is a true conservative that understands his constitutional duties. The establishment does not like Greg Ball and will put Soros operatives and phony conservatives to destroy him.
Rumor has it since Katz may run against Ball this opens up the Assembly Seat and a big gun who has the money and backing might get into this race.
What on god’s earth does a “big gun with money” want with a piddly Assembly seat unless he has his avaricious eye on even more money?
LOL
Dario Gristina is the man to beat. Don’t waste your time again.
OK, tell us who this “big gun” is supposed to be. This sounds like a “big joke”, and if it’s who we’re thinking, then it is a “big joke”. Big gun…..LOL.
there’s nobody “big gun” that’s coming out for state assembly in putnam. the list is right here, and a no brainer:
-Dario Gristina. he’s got more money to put into this campaign than all others combined. Plus the freedom to campaign all day and night, 7 days a week.
-Steve Katz. Dr. Do-Little is finished. that’s even if he runs for re-election which i’m told he’s running against Ball disloyalty goes a long way with people. He should start wearing the pants in his family instead of being bossed around by his wife. that’s where all his anti-Ball anger has come from.
-Willis Stephens. a re-tread, a throwback. the people already told him they didn’t want him. He needs to be told twice? he’s stupid if he thinks he can campaign like a young man.
-James borkowski. i heard his name that he’s thinking about running, I also heard he’s in major trouble.
-Dino lobue. poor dino for listening to Katz. Katz is asking her to run. Don’t do it Dino. Your well liked in your district, you step outside that district and the wolves will be hungry and i dont mean the next name, wolf lawton!).
-Wolf Lawton. Probably a good guy. But to run for assembly as a first time effort, man that’s tuff. he should try to run for a smaller seat first.
Dario is the best candidate to replace Katz in every way.
Pretty hypocritical to say that Wolf Lawton (whoever he is) shouldn’t run for the Assembly as a first time effort because “man that’s tuff. He should try to run for a smaller seat first.” Where to begin…..Has Dario ever run for Assembly before? Or any seat? If not, shouldn’t he, in theory, follow the advice given to Wolf? And perhaps Dario’s the Man forgets that his apparent mentor Greg Ball also had never run for office before running for Assembly. Guessing Dario also doesn’t have a job currently since he’s free to campaign night and day, 7 days a week.
Not hypocritical at all. Gristina is going to have big time support from major people like Greg Ball, and everything that Ball brings. It’s a completely different scenario. Plus the money factor. I know this blows your comments out of the water, and I’m sorry to do it.
And to compare ANYONE to Greg Ball is crazy. Ball prepared for 2 years to run against that statue, Willis Stephens. It’s pretty bad when your family holds that office for 80 years, and people don’t even know who their assemblyman is. Ball jumped all over that. Ball was ready for that assembly run. Townwide or even countywide is one thing…..running for a State position covering three counties is, well, a waste of the person’s time.
Dario’s company is covered by his family and has made arrangements. Really, you should think before you talk.
being endorsed by Greg Ball is the kiss of death. Everyone he backs loses, from supervisors, councilmen, county legislators, and even highway super’s. Ball wants a piece of Dario’s money, just like he wanted from Katz, but Katz woke up and left Ball. Now Ball’s mouthpiece is calling Katz Dr. Doolittle, really nice.
I can not wait to see who the big guns will line up behind Ball or Katz?
If Ball is a real conservative, why is he standing with the big rat that 456 puts out??
You didn’t blow my comments out of the water at all. Nothing I wrote was incorrect and nothing you said invalidated my points. Dario is a first time candidate who is choosing to run for Assembly as is, apparently, according to you, this Wolf guy. There is no difference between the two. They are first time candidates running for the same office and they are both unknowns to the general voting public. If you want to use Ball as your crutch, so be it. Don’t be shocked when he uses Dario to serve his own purpose and drops him like a used suit. Like career politician says above….greg’s track record isn’t all that great when it comes to getting others elected. That said, good luck. Do yourself a favor and focus on the campaign instead of monitoring useless anonymous blog comments.
Dario has the foundation. The others don’t. Dario has a team in place, including a paid manager. The others don’t, won’t, and can’t. Dario starts off with 200K in his account. The others won’t reach that amount combined. Dario has Greg Ball as a lightning rod, while the mentor for the opposition, Vinny Leibell, languishes right where he belongs. I have to laugh when you claim having Ball’s support is meaningless, yet possible candidates have tried to wheel Greg in to their side. Now that they can’t have Ball’s support, you say Ball’s support is worthless. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Last month we hear that the ONLY reason why Katz won was because of GREG BALL. No other reason. And yet now we hear that it’s a kiss of death to be supported by Ball. So which one is it today? Those that expect Ball to carry them and slide to victory by association are the ones that lose. You have to do your own work and stand up on your own two feet. Dario Gristina is his own man, running his own campaign, with his own ideas, and his own money. Ball just helps to give credibility and access to big guns, something needed when running for a state office.
And the term “Dr. Do-Little” came from someone right here, not from Greg Ball’s office. Katz’s wife is filling Katz’s head with all kinds of crazy ideas. If he thinks he can defeat Greg Ball then he should see a doctor, and I don’t mean a vet.
Whoever this ‘Dario” is, I will be sure to vote against him thanks mainly to the shameless shill who incessantly posts here like a high school sophomore. Suspicion is that it is Dario himself or a close relative.