Ariél Zangla reports in The Daily Freeman that objections were filed with the state Board of Elections over the nominating petitions of three candidates in the election for New York’s 19th Congressional District seat. There were objections filed against the petitions for Democrat Erin Collier, Green Party candidate Steven Greenfield, and Women’s Equality Party candidate Chad McEvoy before the April 23 deadline. John Conklin, director of public information for the election board, wrote in an email, “Bipartisan teams will begin to review the objections and determine if they are valid and whether it will reduce the number of valid signatures on the given petition.... If enough signatures are declared invalid so that the petition is invalid, the candidate is notified and offered a public hearing to attempt to change the staff determination. Otherwise, the staff recommendations go to the commissioners for a vote at their next meeting, which is currently scheduled for May 3.” The objection to Collier’s petition was filed by Barbara Sides, a supporter of competing Democratic candidate Pat Ryan , and a voting member of the Gardiner Democratic Committee. In an email, she claimed Collier needed at least 1,250 valid signatures but had only 284. “In reviewing the petitions, I’ve seen an entire sheet with signatures of people who live in NYC (New York City) and the Bronx — not in CD-19 as required,” Sides wrote. “About 90 percent of the petition witnesses are from NYC, and it is possible that they did not understand or hadn’t been told the requirements for petitioning in the Hudson Valley. Additionally, numerous signatures are completely illegible, and some signers signed their name on multiple petitions.” Collier, in an April 16 Facebook post, claimed it was just politics at play. “In a thinly veiled attempt to keep the only woman in this race from having a chance to run, ‘Democratic’ candidate Pat Ryan is behind a lawsuit to kick me off the ballot,” Collier wrote. “In 2018, women should have a seat at the table. Because when we’re not at the table, we don’t get paid fair wages, and our health care is thrown around as a political bargaining chip.” Greenfield is the lone Green Party candidate running in the Congressional election, and McEvoy is not really in the election, but filed as a placeholder for the Women’s Equality Party line to let the eventual Democratic nominee take his spot. Collier, of Cooperstown, and Ryan, of Gardiner, are opposing Jeffrey Beals of Woodstock; David Clegg of Woodstock; Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck; Brian Flynn of Elka Park; and Gareth Rhodes of Kerhonkson in the Democratic primary June 26. Two independents, who did not require petitions, have announced they are running: actor Diane Neal, from Hurley, and activist Luisa Parker of Callicoon. They all want to take on incumbent Republican John Faso, who hails from Kinderhook. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.