Roughly 12,000 registered Republican voters in the Town of Clay received political mailers that listed the Onondaga County Board of Elections as the sender. Inside, the envelopes contained a letter from Town of Clay Republican Committee Chair Deb Magaro‑Dolan, a list of Republican candidates and a mail‑ballot application.
County officials react
Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny said his office fielded calls from confused voters. “A voter getting this piece of mail would think that it’s coming from us, and that is a huge issue,” he told CNY Central. Czarny has filed complaints with the New York State Board of Elections Enforcement Counsel and the New York Attorney General’s Office, requesting an investigation into the production and distribution of the mailers.
Republican Elections Commissioner Kevin Ryan offered a different view. He said a printing vendor mistakenly used the return‑envelope address on the outside mailing envelope and that the error was not caught before distribution. “What the vendor did was put the address of that return envelope as a return address on the outside envelope, and that wasn’t caught,” Ryan explained. He maintains there was no intent to mislead voters and does not believe an additional investigation is necessary.
Who approved the design?
CNY Central asked Onondaga County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Bick whether anyone reviewed the final envelope design. “I don’t believe that we saw the outside envelope,” Bick said. “We didn’t see a proof of the outside envelope.” He identified ABC Creative as the printer and said corrected mailers are being re‑sent at the vendor’s expense. “You know, ultimately I’m as responsible as anyone for the wrong address being on there. I can own that,” Bick added.
ABC Creative responded by email that it was not directed by the Republican committee to use the Board of Elections address.
Past precedent
The paper also referenced a 2020 ruling by the New York State Board of Elections involving a similar mailing from a Democratic political committee in Columbia County. In that case, the envelope appeared to originate from the county Board of Elections, and the committee described the incident as an “inadvertent mistake.” The State Board ultimately admonished the Columbia County Democrats for an “inappropriate and misleading” mailer.
Committee statements
Magaro‑Dolan declined an on‑camera interview but provided a written statement. She said the mailing was part of the committee’s effort to boost Republican voter turnout after losing several seats in the previous election. “Many seats were lost during last year’s election and we didn’t want to take anything for granted and assume people, specifically Republicans, would get out to vote this year,” she wrote. She denied any intention to deceive voters, stating, “I would not cheat, lie, or willingly deceive voters to get that victory.”
Ryan argued the mailing was clearly identified as Republican campaign material once the envelope was opened and said the incident had been blown out of proportion. Czarny countered that official election mail must remain separate from partisan political messaging to preserve public trust.
Next steps
The complaints have been submitted to state authorities. No finding of intentional wrongdoing in the Clay incident has been established, and the matter remains under review.
Original reporting: CNY Central WSTM (Sinclair) – local — read the source article.
