Voter outreach table at Riverhead Town Hall sparks dispute over campaigning

A voter outreach table outside Riverhead Town Hall during early-voting Friday sparked a dispute over campaigning on town property, with supervisor candidate Ken Rothwell alleging voter interference and the town attorney later saying the organizers lacked permission to use the parking lot.

Officials confirmed the table was more than 100 feet from the polling-place entrance. But Town Attorney Erik Howard said Saturday that its organizers needed an assembly permit or other authorization from the Town Board. He said he intends to propose a code change explicitly prohibiting campaign activities on town property.

Howard also said police asked the organizers to stop and they refused. Southold Town Democratic Committee Chairperson Kathryn Casey Quigley, who set up the table, disputed that account.

“She said she thought we might need a permit to have a table in a public location, but that otherwise our activity was permissible. She indicated that if we needed a permit we would hear back, which we did not,” Casey Quigley said Saturday, describing her conversation with a police officer.

Casey Quigley and another woman, who identified herself as Joan Kirschner-Fusaro, were handing out candy and “I voted today” stickers and asking people leaving Town Hall to text three friends to urge them to vote. They described the effort as nonpartisan.

A leaflet promoting Abigail Fields, a write-in candidate for Suffolk County clerk, was also on the table and was offered to people approaching the building. Kirschner-Fusaro described the leaflet as informational. Republican incumbent Vincent Puleo is running unopposed on the ballot.

Another leaflet visible on the table was one promoting Assembly Member Tommy John Schiavoni, who is seeking re-election in the First Assembly District, which does not include Riverhead Town.

There was no campaign literature for Supervisor Halpin visible on the table. Halpin, who is seeking re-election on the Democratic Party line, said he had nothing to do with the table or the activity.

The table stood well beyond Board of Elections signs marking the 100-foot no-campaigning boundary. Riverhead Town Code Enforcement Officer Hernan Ruales measured the distance at about 4:30 p.m. and confirmed to Rothwell, in a reporter’s presence, that the table was more than 100 feet from the entrance.

Casey Quigley said she consulted a Suffolk County Board of Elections lawyer before setting up Friday to confirm what was permitted. She said she made clear that the table would be more than 100 feet from the entrance and was told that, at that distance, its location on town property did not matter.

Council Member Ken Rothwell, the Republican candidate for supervisor, said the table was inappropriate regardless of its distance from the entrance.

“When voters arrive, they have to pass this table, and it is voter interference when you’re handing out literature or candy and stickers, and it’s inappropriate,” Rothwell said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.

He also alleged that the organizers lacked required permits and insurance.

“I do see it as voter interference and voter intimidation as people arrive at the polls, and I am extremely disappointed that Supervisor Halpin has refused to take any action against them,” Rothwell said.

Halpin said in a phone interview Friday that he saw the table when he returned to Town Hall from an event. He said Riverhead Police Captain Danielle Willsey told him she was checking into it after police received a call.

Inside Town Hall, Rothwell told him a town code prohibited the activity, Halpin said. Halpin said he asked Rothwell to identify the provision, and the two spoke with Howard by speakerphone in the lobby. According to Halpin, Howard was looking into whether a code provision applied and would contact police if action was warranted.

Asked what he thought of the activity, Halpin said, “My opinion of it doesn’t really matter. What matters is what people are allowed to do.”

A woman who identified herself to a reporter only as being from Protect the Vote walked around the table observing interactions with passersby. She walked away when asked for her name. Her affiliation was not independently confirmed.

Protect the Vote describes itself on its website as the Republican National Committee’s election integrity hub.

Rothwell, Halpin and Casey Quigley all said they initially thought the woman was with the Board of Elections. Rothwell said she was also the woman who spoke with him and Halpin inside the lobby and that she objected to the activity.

Rothwell said Halpin should have asked members of his party to stop. He said he would never set up campaign literature outside Town Hall or campaign on town property.

“It’s owned by the residents and there should be no campaigning on any town properties, period,” Rothwell said.

The organizers packed up and left shortly after 5 p.m.

In an email Saturday morning, Howard said the organizers had no license or permission from the town to conduct partisan campaign activities on town property. He said any use of the Town Hall parking lot other than parking would require an assembly permit or another specific license from the Town Board.

Howard said town license agreements address insurance, compensation, liability, waivers and indemnification. He said neither he nor senior town investigator Rich Downs, who has worked for the town for nearly 30 years, recalled a similar incident.

Howard said he would advise against allowing partisan political activities on taxpayer-funded property because it could create the perception that the town favors one party over another. He said he intends to propose a code change to “explicitly prohibit any manner or form of campaign activities on town property.”

Casey Quigley maintained that the organizers acted lawfully.

“We were exercising our First Amendment rights legally and made every effort to cooperate with the numerous officials to whom we spoke,” she said Saturday.