Rocco Lanzilotta, who last month lost the Westbury Board of Education race by a mere 10 votes, filed a lawsuit June 11 against the Westbury School District and the three other candidates on the May 20 ballot.

In his lawsuit, Lanzilotta is requesting that the election be overturned and a new one take place based on alleged election day "irregularities" and "inconsistencies" he believes were a violation of both New York State education and election law. He is also requesting that New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills issue a stay to prevent the two elected board members from taking office until an investigation into the election can take place.

Last month, four candidates sought election to two at-large seats on the Westbury Board of Education with newcomer Laura Pierce garnering 1,091 votes and incumbent Adelaide Brinson garnering 961; Lanzilotta received 951 and a fourth candidate, Stan Ercolano, received 790 votes. Of those totals, 67 absentee ballots were cast. The district however, said Lanzilotta's attorney Anthony Iovino, chose to only count 53.

"There are 14 others that [the district] just chose not to count and they haven't given us an answer as to why," Iovino said, adding that the ballots were also counted in private. "Poll watchers are supposed to be allowed to come and observe the counting of the ballots," he said. "What they did is not against the law, but it is an irregularity and against procedure."

Lanzilotta's lawsuit - which in addition to the school district names Ercolano, Pierce and Brinson - also alleges that electioneering, which by law cannot take place within 100 feet of a polling site, occurred and that Westbury poll inspectors themselves were among those doing so.

The lawsuit also alleges that there were discrepancies pertaining to the vote totals. While a total of 2,120 votes were cast only 2,066 signatures were in the voting book. According to Iovino, the number of actual votes cast exceeds the number of signatures by 54. "We don't know if multiple votes were cast, if someone who wasn't registered to vote did or if someone who was registered voted without signing in," said the attorney.

Lanzilotta's claim also alleges that school officials were loitering within the 100-foot radius and standing between voting machines; at the start of the election, the counter on a voting machine at the Park Avenue School as well as one at the Drexel Avenue School was not set at zero; and that people who attempted to vote by affidavit were told that the affidavit had to be notarized and were sent away to find a notary only to be told there was no notary present.

In his lawsuit and petition to the commissioner, Lanzilotta includes copies of obtained voting records as well as nearly a dozen sworn testimonies from voters who also allege they witnessed wrongdoings on election day. If Commissioner Mills, who received a copy of the lawsuit and petition for a stay Friday, were to grant Lanzilotta's request, both Brinson and Pierce could not be sworn in next month. Additionally, Brinson, whose current term is set to expire the end of June, would not be allowed to remain on the board.

"Although it is highly unusual for the commissioner to grant a request for a stay, we truly believe, in this case, it is warranted. There are strong reasons that require a new election," said Iovino, adding, "Our belief is that this election was run with a great deal of laxness and the district failed to adhere to the proper rules and procedures when conducting the election and counting the votes."

Under state law, the Westbury School District is required to respond to Lanzilotta's request for a stay within three business days (June 16); as of press time, requests for comment from school district officials had not been answered.