“My mother and I ripped it apart about a week before the election because he made clear he didn’t want to participate in the Republican primary,” Allen said. “Your vote is your choice. And if you choose not to vote, that’s also your choice. So nobody should take that away from you. They took that away from my father."

“That falls squarely on Richie Barsamian,” he told News 12.

“That’s not true. That’s not correct. Everyone at the BOE was appointed long before I became chairman. I have no knowledge and no involvement whatsoever with anything connected to this race and anything that is incorrect from the BOE. Period. End of story.”

“I feel like it discourages participation,” Santosuosso said. “It makes people believe that the system can’t be trusted, and we just simply can’t afford that in our local elections.”