The plot continues to thicken regarding Brooklyn’s massive Democratic voter purge last month.
The Brooklyn Board of Elections scrubbed more than 125,000 Democratic voters from borough rolls ahead of the April 19 presidential primary, and party boss Frank Seddio (right) was quick to defend the Kings County Democratic election clerk Betty Ann Canizio, (below) who is immediately responsible for voter lists, but his defense appears to have more holes than a punch ballot.
Seddio, a close Canizio ally, defended the board’s decision to suspend Republican chief election clerk Diane Haslett-Rudiano instead of Canizio, claiming the purge happened before Canizio was hired in 2014.
“It all happened before she arrived there,” he said. “It’s outrageous, it’s freaking outrageous. She didn’t work there at the time, it all started before she started working there.”
Seddio also told the New York Times that the purge happened before Canizio came on board.
But the Campaign Finance Board and Comptroller Scott Stringer beg to differ.
The city’s top accountant claims that the Board of Elections dropped the voters between November 2015 and the April 19 primary.
And more than 80,000 got the axe on just one day in mid-January, according to finance board report released on April 29.
The board also removed 137,561 more supposedly inactive voters on March 9, 2015, the report found — also well after Canizio’s hiring.
Seddio did not return multiple requests for comment following release of the Campaign Finance Board’s report.
Canizio is running for district leader in the Ridge-to-Rock 64th Assembly District this fall.
The unpaid electeds are responsible for staffing poll sites on election day.
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Councilman Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island) wants to do double duty.
The freshman legislator is the latest to throw his hat into the ring for 46th Assembly District Democratic male district leader.
The pol is likely looking to solidify power in the Coney Island-to-Bay Ridge assembly district, where he recently made inroads by helping to get ally Assemblywoman Pamela Harris (D-Coney Island) elected.
Treyger is challenging incumbent Mark Davidovich and Bay Ridge politico Chris McCreight.
Rumor has it that Coney Island case-worker and activist Sheila Smalls will challenge incumbent Dilia Schack for female district leader in the 46th — and that Davidovich will unshackle himself from longtime political partner Schack and instead shack up with Smalls, according to sources looking to unseat Davidovich.
The Russian-born business man denied the accusation, saying he’s sticking it out with Schack, who told this paper last year she was likely not to run for reelection.
“We are running together,” Davidovich said. “I am not running with Sheila.”
Smalls would neither confirm nor deny the rumors.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I have no comment at this particular time.”
