State officials are investigating a special election in the Village of South Blooming Grove that appears to have taken place with little to no public notice.

Village officials re-elected Mayor George Kalaj and trustees Abraham Weiss and Yitzchok Feldman on Oct. 22, but many residents and even local lawmakers say they never knew the vote was happening.

The last village election was held in March 2022, meaning most residents believed the next vote wouldn’t be until 2026 under the village’s four-year term structure.

State Sen. James Skoufis, who chairs the New York State Senate Investigations Committee, says his office began receiving calls from constituents after the election asking how it occurred and whether the village followed proper procedures.

“I didn’t know about it. Everyone I’ve spoken to in South Blooming Grove didn’t know about it. Everyone who pays attention to politics in Orange County that I’ve heard from did not know anything about it,” Skoufis told News 12.

Documents obtained by News 12 under a Freedom of Information Act request from the Orange County Board of Elections show village officials held a referendum in June 2025 to move elections from March to October. The measure passed 61-10 with only about 70 people voting.

Roughly 130 ballots were cast in the Oct. 22 election for the unopposed mayor and trustees — about eight times fewer than the nearly 1,000 ballots cast in the last regularly scheduled election in 2022.

Skoufis called the roughly 3% turnout “about as low as I’ve ever seen for a municipal election” and questioned whether voters were properly informed.

“I want to know whether the election was intentionally suppressed,” he said. “If that’s the case, that’s voter suppression — and that’s a really serious issue.”

The New York Attorney General’s Office confirms it is reviewing the matter, while Skoufis says his committee has requested all records from the village clerk, including any proof of how and when residents were notified.

He’s given officials until Friday to comply and says he won’t rule out using subpoena power if they don’t.

The Orange County Board of Elections says village elections are administered by the village itself, not by the county.

South Blooming Grove Village Attorney Scott Ugell declined to comment and the village mayor did not respond to an email requesting information.