ST. JOHNSVILLE — Oppenheim-Ephratah and St. Johnsville residents who will be out of the area or otherwise unable to vote in the March 19 Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Central School District Board of Education election may now request an absentee ballot. 

District officials advise residents that, as this is a New York State Department of Education referendum, the state Commissioner of Education has established a different absentee voting procedure than for regular school board elections.

Applicants should note that each absentee voting packet will include an application together with the ballot. The packet will also include detailed instructions for completing and returning both the absentee ballot application and the ballot together. Failure to follow those instructions may result in a ballot being disqualified. Voters should also note that candidates appear on both sides of the ballot.

To obtain an absentee ballot, residents should contact Oppenheim-Ephratah District Clerk Anna O’Connell at (518) 568-2014 or St. Johnsville District Clerk Elizabeth Battisti at (518) 568-2622. Absentee ballots will be available until March 18. Completed applications and ballots must be received by the district clerks no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.

State Department of Education representatives will tally all votes, including absentee ballots, on March 19.

In a referendum on Jan. 29, Oppenheim-Ephratah and St. Johnsville voters authorized the establishment of a seven-member board of education with members serving full terms of three years.

In order to stagger the number of seats up for election each year on the new board, the candidates elected with the most votes on March 19 will serve the longest terms, while those elected with the fewest votes will serve shorter terms. Based on the number of votes received, three members will receive three-year terms, two members will receive two-year terms and two members will receive one-year terms. Winners in all subsequent elections will receive full three-year terms.

Fourteen candidates have filed petitions to run including Darren Bellen, Renee Swartz, Bruce Carpenter, Cindy Breh, Ben Conte, Susanne Sammons, Chad Eggleston, Neil Clark, Glen Blanchard, Patricia Christensen, Keith Handy, William Lints, Lee Quackenbush and Christopher Mosher. (Candidate names appear here in the same order as they will appear on the ballot. Ballot order was decided by lottery.)

Polls for the March 19 election will be open from noon to 8 p.m. The referendum will have one polling site. All voters will cast their ballots at the D.H. Robbins Elementary School in St. Johnsville.