NEW CITY — Aron Wieder, East Ramapo Board of Education vice president and special assistant to the Spring Valley mayor, was charged with violating state election law Thursday after turning himself in to Clarkstown police.
Wieder is accused of blocking the entrance to a polling station at Hillcrest Elementary School during Tuesday's school district elections, said Sgt. Brian Gorsky of the Clarkstown police, adding that two unknown men are believed to have assisted Wieder.
Wieder was arrested after voluntarily arriving at Clarkstown police headquarters in New City along with East Ramapo School District attorney Albert D'Agostino about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Gorsky said.
The board vice president was charged with a misdemeanor count of violating section 17-152 of state Election Law, conspiracy to promote or prevent election.
Clarkstown police were summoned to Hillcrest Elementary on Addison Boyce Drive in New City on Tuesday after a poll watcher accused Wieder of photographing and otherwise intimidating voters, and of blocking the entrance to the school, preventing voters from entering the polling station.
D'Agostino, who said he is not representing Wieder on behalf of the school district, but is volunteering his services, denied the accusations.
"He, as an elected official, had a right to go to that location in response to complaints that he was getting from constituents who felt that they were being deprived of their right to vote," D'Agostino said.
D'Agostino said residents had told Wieder that poll watchers prevented mothers from the neighboring village of New Square from bringing baby carriages into the school and were being overly critical when analyzing voting signatures at the polling station.
Wieder has served as an assistant to Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin since December 2009 and has acted as East Ramapo board president since former President Nathan Rothschild resigned in April.
Wieder chose not to seek re-election to the school board seat he has held since 2008.
His name was not on Tuesday's ballot.
Wieder was released without bail.
He is due in Clarkstown Town Court at 9:30 a.m. June 15.
This is what happens when the community puts under educated, barely literate people on the school Board. He does not understand that rules, especially election law, needs to be followed. A Board member cannot be a poll watcher. Poll watchers are independent. Plus he helped put up for public vote a budget sure to fail and then campaigned against it. He did the same thing last year. The budget presented by the superintendent was to be remolded by the Board. They chose not to and now we face an austerity budget with a 8.3& increase. Mr. Wieder needs to stick with things he knows and education is not one of them. This whole situation is an embarrassment to those of us from the community.
ReplyDeleteGuess what being barely literate got us a tiny increase in taxes, oh and it also got those old ladies sitting at the polling boots to shake their ass, I'm all for it lets have only these energized barely literate guys on the board of ed maybe our taxes will begin going downward
ReplyDelete