NYC parent council elections rife with problems, rule violations: ‘Staggering incompetence'
Voting for New York City's parent education councils has devolved into chaos — with persistent technical issues, ballot errors and apparent violations of campaign rules, The Post has learned.
Parents in District 1, which covers the Lower East Side and East Village, received notice Friday that a candidate was missing from the ballot.
'We have cleared the votes of all those that voted prior to the corrected ballot and are asking you to vote again by entering your NYC Schools Account,' an email from the CEC elections team read.
Advertisement
4 Since voting opened for Community and Citywide Education Councils, multiple errors and glitches have been reported.
Obtained by the New York Post
The parent, Rodney Lee, a social worker who served on the advisory council in 2021, was also previously left off the list for the district's candidate forum.
'They're disenfranchising the families of District 1,' Noah Harlan, the council's president, told The Post.
Advertisement
It comes after voting began last Friday and opened to the system being taken down for 'maintenance' shortly after amid reports of issues.
Those who voted before it was paused received calls this week saying they would also have to re-vote before May 13.
4 CEC 1 President Noah Harlan, pictured in Brooklyn last year, is calling for an audit of this year's election.
Gabriella Bass
Harlan blasted the city Department of Education's Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE), which administers elections.
Advertisement
'FACE has a history of staggering incompetence,' Harlan said. 'Once again, they have truly dropped the ball.'
FACE, which is reportedly riddled with dysfunction, spends upwards of $5 million on the biennial elections, sources say, yet only about 2% of public school families voted in recent years.
4 Yiatin Chu, co-president of PLACE NYC, is demanding an investigation into the ballot errors.
J.C.Rice
Harlan and other parents are calling for an audit of the election.
Advertisement
The group Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education (PLACE NYC), demanded an investigation into the 'cause and scope of the ballot errors' on the first day of voting.
'The integrity of parent representation is at stake,' PLACE co-president Yiatin Chu said in a statement.
4 Candidates received an email Thursday about disparaging flyers that represented an 'erosion' of the election process.
Obtained by the New York Post
Meanwhile, FACE emailed candidates Thursday about complaints of flyers disparaging candidates that were hung near schools, including District 2, where far-left trans rights activists are trying to unseat conservative opponents.
'These actions represent a serious erosion of the fairness and integrity of the election process,' the email read.
The DOE did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NYC LGBT voters back Zohran Mamdani by just tiny margin over Andrew Cuomo — but 24% are undecided: poll
New York City's LGBT voters back Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani by just a slim margin ahead of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and about one fourth are still undecided, a new survey obtained by The Post claims. The demographic group could play an outsized role in selecting the winner of the Democratic primary for mayor, accounting for up to 25% of the total vote, according to the survey, conducted by the Honan Strategy Group for the Bronx-based LGBT group Destination Tomorrow. As with other voters, LGBTers see a largely two person race — with 25% backing Mamdani, 21% supporting Cuomo — and no other candidate breaking 10%. 'No one else has broken through,' said pollster Bradley Honan, noting he was surprised at the high percentage of undecided LGBT voters compared to other Democrats. A significant 24% of LGBT New Yorkers — about one quarter of all Democrats — were still undecided with early voting starting Saturday for the June 24 primary. The poll found that 75% of Democrats identified as heterosexual, about 20% identified as LGBT or non-straight and 5% declined to identify their sexual orientation. The breakdown includes 7% who identified as gay and lesbian, 4% as bisexual, 3% pansexual, 1% queer and another 5% who identified as having 'another identity.' City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams received 7% support from LGBT Democratic New York City voters. Three other candidates — City Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie — each received the backing of 6% of respondents. Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, who recently endorsed rival Cuomo, and former Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake, each received 2% support. Cuomo, when he was governor, pushed through a gay marriage law in 2011 and he's run with strong LGBT backing in his races for governor. That was before he resigned as governor in 2021 following sexual misconduct accusations that he has denied. The major local LGBT political clubs did not endorse his comeback bid. The Stonewall Democrats ranked Adams, no relation to the mayor, first in the primary, Lander second and Mamdani, a Queens state Assembly member, third. The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club also did not rank Cuomo. The 4 point spread between Mamdani and Cuomo is within the poll's 5.87 percentage point margin of error for the 282 LGBT Democrats queried. Among all 1,257 Dems queried — including LGBTers — Cuomo defeated Mamdani in the seventh round of rank-choice voting 56% to 44%. That's similar to most other recent polls. The horse race starts with Cuomo at 38%, Mandani with 22%, city Comptroller Brad Lander with 12% and Adrienne Adams with 10%, and another 10% are undecided. The survey asked specific questions pertaining to the LGBT community. A majority of all Democratic voters said the next mayor has to do more to assist LGBT New Yorkers, particularly black and brown individuals. The text poll of all 1,257 Democrats was conducted from June 5th to 9th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.76 percentage points.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Donald Trump responds to Elon Musk's late-night apology after ugly public feud
WASHINGTON — President Trump is feeling good about Elon Musk's apology after the former 'first buddy' admitted late Tuesday he had gone 'too far' in his personal attacks on the commander-in-chief. 'I thought it was very nice that he did that,' the president told The Post in a brief phone conversation Wednesday morning, but didn't say whether he was willing to let bygones be bygones with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. 3 Musk, 53, went off on Trump in a series of social media messages this past Thursday, at one point claiming the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without his help and suggesting the president was responsible for preventing the release of files on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein due to his past association with the late financier. 'I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,' Musk wrote late Tuesday after previously deleting his post about the Epstein files. Efforts have been made by Trump's allies to ease tensions between the two men. On Friday, Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles held a phone call with Musk to talk about his relationship with Trump, according to a source familiar with the conversation. The Post could not independently confirm other reports that Musk reached out to Trump personally on Monday. The president has expressed openness to potentially burying the hatchet with Musk — who he accused last week of having 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' and being bitter about both leaving his special government employee position and the House GOP removing electric vehicle tax incentives from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 3 Trump told CNN on Friday that Musk was 'crazy' — and threatened on Truth Social to look into revoking his company's federal government contracts. But the president also told The Post on Friday that 'nothing surprises him' — not even his onetime ally turning against him. Trump told Post columnist Miranda Devine Monday that he doesn't 'blame' Musk for the blow-up that started with the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) figure's criticisms of the Big Beautiful Bill — but maintained that he's 'a little disappointed.' 'Look, I have no hard feelings,' Trump said. 'I was really surprised that that happened. He went after a bill that's phenomenal. …He just — I think he feels very badly that he said that, actually.' When asked whether he would ever go back to a regular relationship with Musk, Trump told Devine's 'Pod Force One' podcast: 'I guess I could, but we have to straighten out the country.' 'And my sole function now is getting this country back to a level higher than it's ever been. And I think we can do that.'
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
NJ Gov. Phil Murphy invited Donald Trump to Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy extended an invite to President Donald Trump to attend the Club World Cup final being held at MetLife Stadium next month. Murphy was attending an event for the one-year mark until the 2026 World Cup — being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — when he mentioned a conversation he had with the president. 'I spoke to the president on Saturday night, invited him to the Club World Cup final,' Murphy said as part of an answer about the dialogue between the Trump administration and the New York/New Jersey Host Committee, which is organizing the World Cup efforts in the region. Advertisement 3 New Jersey governor Phil Murphy at a ceremony to announce a renovation of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. Stephen Yang 3 Photo of workers at MetLife Stadium working on installing the soccer turf for the FIFA Club World Cup. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post While Murphy said he extended the invitation, the governor explained that, 'I'm not sure he could come.' The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post. Advertisement The Club World Cup, a 32-team tournament of the top teams from domestic leagues across the globe, is set to begin on Saturday night with a match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly in Miami. MetLife Stadium will host nine games during the Club World Cup this summer, including a quarterfinals match, the semifinals and the final, which will be played on July 13. Murphy lauded the group stage matches, with MetLife's first game of the tournament being a contest between Brazilian club Palmeiras and Portuguese side FC Porto. Advertisement 3 President Donald Trump arrives on stage to speak at Fort Bragg. STAN GILLILAND/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 'My guess is we'll have 40 to 50,000 folks there for the kickoff, which will be really cool,' Murphy said. The tournament, in a way, is a dry run for next year's main event, which will be played across 11 cities in the United States and five in Canada and Mexico. During Wednesday's event at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Murphy expressed confidence that the World Cup matches next year in the New York/New Jersey region would be 'a blowout success and a safe World Cup.'
