NEWS RELEASE
October 18, 2022
Last week registered voters throughout Chemung County received a postcard mailing from the Chemung County Board of Elections pertaining to the Chemung County Legislature’s re-districting process. While the Board of Elections mailings that are strictly informational are permissible, this postcard was biased in nature as it supports the Chemung County Legislature’s point of view, asking you to vote yes for their redistricting proposal. It should also be noted that the web link on the card takes voters directly to the Legislature’s portion of the website as opposed to the entire redistricting site, which stipulates both sides of the redistricting issue.
Unfortunately, the Board of Elections failed to review the postcard's content with the County Attorney’s Office before its mailing. The funding mechanism to mail and print the card is unknown at this time, but it does appear that the process was not transparent as the Chairperson of the Redistricting Committee, Legislator Tom Sweet, used his personal e-mail address (tsweet3@stny.rr.com) to facilitate the request. This improper utilization of taxpayers’ money and resources should and will be thoroughly investigated.
I would ask that all registered voters go to www.chemungcountyny.gov/redistricting to review both sides of the issue so they can make an informed decision on November 8th or during the early voting process.
Christopher J. Moss
Chemung County Executive
