The following article appears in Thursdays Times Herald Record:

Hasidic groups have begun a voter registration drive in the Town of Bethel after what organizers say has been increasingly unfair treatment at the hands of the Town Board.

Organizers opened an office in Kauneonga Lake about two weeks ago. They say 300 people have filled out voter registration forms.

“We Orthodox people, we like to live in peace,” said one man, standing on the steps of the office Tuesday afternoon. “We are not interested in politics, in leading the town. But, unfortunately, we have to use the power we have.”

On Aug. 14, an article appeared in the Satmar Brooklyn weekly Der Yid, announcing the formation of “Community Council of Bethel.”

This comes after a dispute in July between the United Talmudical Academy and the town over the construction of a synagogue on Schultz Road. Town officials tried to force the group to vacate the building and involve the Planning Board in a review of the plans after the fact. The UTA has taken the town to court twice this summer.

But the organizer said the timing of the UTA dispute and the formation of the council is “coincidental.”

Residents, he said, are upset generally about new zoning and a feeling that “a few people run everything.”

“It has nothing to do with the UTA,” he said. “It is not only Jewish people. We have a lot of just plain old local people.”

While the council won’t put up candidates, it will interview and endorse candidates for the Nov. 3 general election, the organizer said. Bethel’s elections are normally hotly contested and decided by a hundred votes or less. The supervisor and two board seats are up for grabs.

“I think the possibility exists that they are out to get anybody on the Town Board,” said Supervisor Dan Sturm, who has run afoul of Orthodox communities over the UTA controversy. Sturm faces a challenge from former Supervisor Harold Russell, a Republican.

“Overall, whether they are allowed to vote or not, it is up to the elections office,” Sturm said. “I am doing what I think is right. I am not going to be intimidated to act any differently. I will do what I think is right for the safety of the residents and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”

According to the Sullivan County Board of Elections, the council has registered at least 20 people at addresses on State Route 17B and Cohen and Cohen Road. A county elections officer said the group dropped off another 31 cards Tuesday afternoon. Most are switching registrations from Brooklyn and the Monroe area in Orange County, the worker said.

While bloc voting from Kiryas Joel residents has swung elections in Monroe, Orthodox communities have never registered enough votes to control elections in Sullivan County. Orthodox voters do commonly vote in the towns of Thompson and Fallsburg, where numerous summer camps and bungalow colonies are located.

A person must live in a county for at least 30 days before an election to vote in that county. Switching registrations involves a simple act of filling out a form and signing an affidavit that the person qualifies to vote, and recording the previous address. Sullivan’s Board of Elections mails a voter registration card before the election. Election workers try to verify the person’s residency only if the card is returned in the mail. The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 9.

In Bethel, there are voting blocs already at the gated Chapin Estate and community activist groups in Smallwood and elsewhere. These organizations have pushed for restrictive zoning.

“Our voice has not been heard,” the organizer said.

[NOTE: To read an article written for YWN by Daniel Sturm, the Supervisor of the Town of Bethel, click HERE]

(Source: Recordonline.com)