Ask a Delaware County voter how many choices they’ll have for town supervisor this November, and there’s a 50% chance they’ll say “one.” That’s this year’s ballot, and the deadline to change it has already passed: petitions for an independent ballot line closed back in May. But New York law leaves room for a second option that doesn’t show up until someone picks up a pen and uses the write-in line. Delaware County voters have used it before: in 2011, a Delhi write-in candidate out-polled a fully nominated challenger, and a Middletown write-in bid beat two of three ballot-listed opponents. With Election Day on November 3 less than two months away, it’s now the only option left.
Why does this matter? An opponent, ballot-listed or handwritten, is what makes an election an accountability check rather than a formality. A supervisor who wins against a real challenger has had to answer for their record in a way an unopposed one never does.
Accountability is exactly what Delaware County is short on, and the scale is bigger than ten town names suggest. Andes, Bovina, Colchester, Davenport, Franklin, Kortright, Masonville, Middletown, Stamford, and Walton are all currently uncontested for supervisor, and together they’re home to roughly 22,000 residents, about half the county’s population. In 2025, those same ten towns cast just over 5,200 of the county’s 10,185 total ballots, again, about half of everyone who actually voted. This isn’t a handful of odd little towns skipping a formality; it’s half the county’s people and voters with no real choice on the ballot.
A write-in bid doesn’t require flipping thousands of minds. Across all 17 town supervisor races in 2025, the winning vote total averaged about 404, with a median of just 371. Five towns elected their supervisor with under 300 votes: Masonville (150), Tompkins (170), Hamden (207), Bovina (210), and Stamford (244). This is where the accountability problem compounds. Bovina’s Tina Molé won her seat with 210 votes and no opponent to answer to. She was then elevated to chair of the County Board, arguably the most powerful position in county government, not by a countywide vote, but by a vote of her fellow supervisors. A couple hundred votes can produce the most powerful office in the county without ever facing a real electorate.
New York’s law helps, too: local write-in candidates need no advance declaration, and officials must count a write-in vote whenever intent can reasonably be determined, even with misspellings. The real fight is name recognition and turnout, and time is short: announce now so word can spread by mouth and mailer, make sure supporters know your name must be written and the oval filled in, and confirm with the Board of Elections how your town’s machines record write-ins.
While a write-in campaign is entirely possible, it only happens if someone has the courage to run. Ten Delaware County towns will find out this November whether that person exists in their communities.
Kristin Antin
Meredith
Kristin Antin serves on the Meredith Town Board and writes here in their individual capacity.
