, the incumbent in the New Hyde Park fire commissioner election, won this year's race with a margin of 465 to 253 against challenger Harold Hugli.
Chairman of the election committee Jim Kane read the results at about 10:15 p.m., after voting had been open from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kane said there were 721 votes, one of which was blank and two were disallowed.
"It feels great," Bonura said while beaming a smile and shaking the hands of some of the people who waited at the to hear the results. Bonura explained that he will finish out his term this year and start his new five-year term in January.
There was a lower voter turnout than usual this year, Kane said, noting that usually each hour there are at least 100 votes and there were only two hours on Tuesday when that happened. Kane chalked up the lower turnout to the cold weather and snow that fell Monday night.
This year, the election was done on a paper ballot as the previously used lever voting system was not allowed this year, Kane said. Voters came in and had their records checked against computerized records from the board of elections. People were then given a sort of ticket to get their ballot, which ensured that each voter and ballot corresponded to each other. Finally, after voters received their ballot and were given their instructions, the ballots were filled out behind a screen and dropped in one of two boxes.
"We work hard to make sure there are checks and balances," said Patricia Guy, who works in the fire district office.
To count these ballots, Kane explained before the votes were counted that he intended to sort them first by candidate and then have them counted.
