Elex Board ‘shields’ connected pol

In what critics are bashing as crass politicking, seven of the 10 commissioners on the city’s Board of Elections abstained in a vote to oust a politically connected candidate from the ballot — overruling their own lawyers and ignoring legal precedent.

The case involves the Feb. 14 special election to fill the Harlem council seat vacated by Inez Dickens, who was elected to the state Assembly.

Among the nine candidates is Larry Scott-Blackmon, who is backed by Dickens and Manhattan Democratic Party Chairman Keith Wright.

But Scott-Blackmon made a big mistake when he submitted petitions to run under the banner of the “Harlem Family” Party.

The board’s lawyer, Steven Richman, said the name violated the law because it sounded too similar to the Working Families Party, and could mislead voters.

The board’s staff then recommended yanking Scott-Blackmon from the ballot.

“We have no wiggle room on this,” Board President Frederic Umane said during the board meeting. “The case law was clear.”

But moments later, the board members ruled to keep ScottBlackmon on the ballot.

The candidate’s election lawyer, Martin Connor, had argued that the board could not toss ScottBlackmon because a voter had not filed a complaint

Rival candidates said the board ruling smacked of a double standard and suggested that Wright pressured board commissioners to side with Scott-Blackmon.

A Scott-Blackmon campaign spokeswoman said “silly word games” shouldn’t take precedence over the will of the people.