By MICHAEL RISINIT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 21, 2001)

Endorsements made by the Putnam County Independence Party should be revoked because the party chiefs who granted them are ineligible to lead the organization, according to a Southeast party member and longtime political activist.

Ed Heelan, a real-estate agent who chaired Pat Buchanan's New York presidential campaign last year, challenged 31 candidates' party endorsements in a complaint filed this week with the county Board of Elections.

Party Chairman William Sayegh and George Gallinger, a Putnam Valley resident who serves on the party's state and county committees, failed to wait the requisite amount of time between changing their voter registration and assuming leadership positions in the party. Therefore, Heelan contended, the two men did not have the authority to endorse candidates for office. Both Sayegh and Gallinger disagreed with Heelan yesterday.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Heelan didn't take the trouble to look into it," Gallinger said.

Heelan also has explained his concerns in a letter to state Independence Party Chairman Frank McKay, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Heelan said his problem wasn't with the candidates, but the way in which those who made the endorsements obtained their positions.

If he is successful, Heelan's action would remove a ballot line that many candidates depend on for votes from outside of their own party. The list includes Deputy County Executive Donald Smith, who is running for sheriff, three county legislator candidates, and supervisor candidates in Putnam's six towns.

Heelan's objection involves when Sayegh and Gallinger changed their party enrollment from Republican to Independence. Tom Wilkey, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said the enrollment change isn't effective until a week after the November general election in the year in which the switch is made.

Once the change becomes official in the state's eyes, party rules say, potential committee members have to wait another year before assuming office. Gallinger contended that the date on the enrollment form was "presumptive evidence" of party membership and made him and Sayegh eligible to serve on committees.

Based on their voter registration forms, Sayegh began serving as party chairman almost nine months before he became eligible, and Gallinger was elected to the state committee two months ahead of time.

Heelan said that makes them ineligible to be part of the interim county organization, which is required to have at least three members. Since Sayegh and Gallinger constitute two of Putnam's three-member organization, the organization is incapable of making endorsements, Heelan said.

Heelan promised to take his complaint to court if he wasn't satisfied with the Board of Election's decision. Robert Bennett, an election commissioner, yesterday said a decision could be made by early next week.