[OBSERVER] The Manhattan Democratic Party convened an emergency meeting today to nominate a replacement for New York City Board of Elections Commissioner Alan Schulkin, who rocketed to prominence when a conservative nonprofit caught him on hidden camera alleging voter fraud is rampant in New York City’s minority neighborhoods.Under the eye of Assemblyman Keith Wright, chairman of the New York County Democratic Committee, members voted unanimously to nominate Jeanine Johnson, his chief of staff and attorney--who received a drunk driving charge last year, according to the New York Post. Schulkin told the Observer before the meeting started that he made a decision not to seek a new four-year term on the board last August, well before Project Veritas published the undercover video this October in which he alleged organizations bus voters from poll site to poll site in nonwhite neighborhoods.
He said he chose to step down because he’s "getting a little bit older" and there’s "a lot of things I wanted to do in life" besides being the commissioner, which he said is "a lot of work."
"The county leader asked me to stay on through certification and we agreed. Our relationship is fantastic," he said. "He’s worked well with me over the last two years and he has no hard feelings and whoever you guys pick, I will fully support and help in any way possible."
This revelation is odd, since Schulkin pointedly refused to comply with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s calls he step down after the video surfaced. After the meeting, the outgoing commissioner disputed a question about why he resisted those calls for his resignation when he was planning to do so all along.
"Very simple: because I believe in the integrity of the Board of Elections and it was only one person calling for me to resign, and that was the mayor," Schulkin said, noting that the city BOE is under the control of the county party organizations and the City Council, not Gracie Mansion. "And I don’t believe the mayor has control of the Board of Elections. So I was not stepping down because he asked me to step down."
Schulkin, whom the state Board of Elections has subpoenaed, declined to comment on whether he believes voter fraud is rampant, citing advice from his attorneys.