STEWART WINS, IT’S FINALLY OVER

NYACK – The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court on Friday supported a Rockland judge’s ruling that gives Orangetown town Supervisor Andy Stewart, D-Nyack, a two-vote victory in his 2013 bid for re-election.

The court, based in Brooklyn, rejected an appeal filed by Walter Wettje, R-Pearl River, after state Supreme Court Judge Victor Alfieri had tossed out six of the final 12 absentee ballots to be counted in the Stewart-Wettje race. With that decision, Wettje went from having a 36-vote lead on election night to being two votes behind Stewart.

At 5:47 p.m. Friday, a spokesman for Wettje’s campaign confirmed that the candidate’s appeal had been rejected. Additional details on the court’s decision were not yet available.

At around 9:30 p.m. Friday, the Rockland County Democratic Committee posted a message on Facebook celebrating a victory by Stewart.

Stewart, based on Friday’s decision, would begin his second term as town supervisor in January.

Since the Nov. 5 election, the outcome has focused on a complete counting of votes cased on Election Day and then on hundreds of absentee ballots filed with the Rockland County Board of Elections. A review of challenges by both sides led to a series of hearings, which including court testimony by voters and an usual court session in which all involved went to a voter’s home to take testimony.