The League of Woman Voters takes pride in the nonpartisan educational debates we sponsor during election seasons. It is our goal to enable voters to become familiar with candidates and their policies. We make them available to all interested parties, whether in person, as has been our practice, or, more recently, due to the pandemic, via Zoom.
This spring, we planned to sponsor three debates. Two occurred, the third did not. It was to be among the four candidates for the two Southampton Town Council endorsements of the Working Families Party. We invited the candidates to participate in a debate. Two of the candidates readily accepted our invitation. After multiple efforts to contact the other two, including sending certified letters, we received no response.
As the deadline for this planned debate came closer, we were forced to cancel, since we could not allow two candidates running as a team to debate each other for the two positions. This would have violated our nonpartisan policy of presenting opposing candidates.
This unfortunate event caused us, as well as the local cable station, time and effort to prepare for an event that never happened.
However, the real losers are the members of the Working Families Party in Southampton who lost a chance to see and hear candidates for the Town Council and thereby make a more informed decision when they vote in the primary on June 22.
Barbara McClancy
Vice President
League of Woman Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & the North Fork
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