With the November national election coming, frustrations are rising as Brooklyn politics is holding up the appointment of Rodney Pepe-Souvenir as the new Brooklyn Democratic Board of Elections (BOE) Commissioner.
The BOE Commissioners is normally comprised of five Republicans and five Democrats – one of each political party from each of the five boroughs. However, since the previous Brooklyn Democratic Commissioner John Flateau stepped down in January, the BOE, according to a source, has been working with one Republican representative for Brooklyn and substitute from Staten Island during the pandemic.
Under party rules, the Brooklyn delegation in the city council must vote to approve Pepe-Souvenir, but sources say the delegation Co-Chair Councilmember Antonio Reynoso (D-Williamsburg, Bushwick, Ridgewood) is dragging his feet. The other Co-Chair, Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate) tried to convene a meeting of the Brooklyn delegation before a vote to review the nominee about a month ago, said a source with knowledge of the issue.
“I’m working with the Brooklyn Delegation co-chair to schedule a meeting and vote after some members asked to postpone a previously scheduled meeting,” said Treyger in response.
The source said five years ago, when Flateau was appointed, there was also a rigorous screening process in which a candidate went through several committees and a public hearing before the city council voted on a person, so it’s not like that is uncommon. However, the COVID-19 crisis coupled with the importance of the presidential election means the clock is running, said the source.
The BOE source said the coronavirus has effectively “distracted” the process of finding a new commissioner, and there are still thousands of jobs and logistics that need to be addressed at Brooklyn’s 400 polling sites, as well as absentee and early voting issues, before November to ensure a smooth election.
In the primary elections, voter turnout was actually increased even with COVID and mailing system setbacks, said the source, but voter participation is in danger of being undercut if a commissioner isn’t found to handle the general election properly.
This is bigger than a political issue and shouldn’t be subordinated to “internal partisan political bickering” said the source.
“As a leader of Brooklyn Democrats and a longtime advocate on election reform, it is my job to ensure that every Brooklyn vote counts. A recommended election commissioner candidate was fully vetted through the Kings County Democratic Executive Committee, the City Council legal compliance team and members of the city council,” said Democratic Party Chair and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park) about her chosen nominee.
Pepe-Souvenir is a distinguished lawyer and President of the Haitian American Lawyers Association of New York. She currently serves on her local Community Board as well as the board of a Brooklyn non-profit serving the needs of victims of domestic violence and their families.
Bichotte said Pepe-Souvenir would be a strong advocate for voters’ rights, in a statement in July, “especially as the BOE wrestled with the twin impacts of the pandemic and economic dislocation.”
“I am calling on Councilman Reynoso to put any other politics aside and help to convene the Brooklyn delegation overdue meeting for a vetting process and vote on the election commissioner candidate, to ensure that our borough has full representation at the BOE when it comes to board of election decisions on: the hiring of poll workers, accessible voting sites, absentee voting, early voting, and all of the other voting essentials that involves the electoral process that impact our voters’ constitutional rights,” said Bichotte.
Reynoso couldn’t be reached for comment.
