Time to walk the plank!

The founder of popular Pirate’s Booty cheese puff line got shellacked in Tuesday’s Sea Cliff mayoral election, losing to incumbent Elena Villafane 1,064 votes to just 62 — despite proclaiming himself the victor just 30 minutes after the polls opened. 

Robert Ehrlich’s wildly misguided declaration came a week after the political newcomer drew headlines for storming the Long Island enclave’s village hall to announce he’s now in charge of the tiny, 5,000-person community.

“I am declaring myself the winner,” Ehrlich, 66, told The Post Tuesday afternoon well before the polls closed at 9 p.m.

But results of the election told a different story as Ehrlich, who was not on the official ballot and entered the mayoral race last week as a write-in candidate, was handily defeated. 

Sea Cliff’s rightful mayor, Villafane, celebrated her victory in a comment to The Post after votes were tallied.

“I want to thank every resident who took the time to cast their ballot. Whether you voted for me is beside the point. Engagement in the electoral process is the backbone of democracy,” she said.

The incumbent then took a veiled shot at her eleventh-hour opponent, warning others she would not put up with “further” threats to disturb the village government.

“Now that the election is over, let me be clear: I will not tolerate any further attempts to undermine the governance of this Village. Our civil servants work tirelessly to serve our community, and any efforts to disrupt or interfere with their work will be addressed through all appropriate and lawful means,” she said.

“We will not allow distractions, misinformation, or personal agendas to stand in the way of good government,” Villafane said, adding, “It’s time to move forward together… Now, let’s get to work.

Ehrlich said he had been out campaigning since 6 a.m. Tuesday morning collecting nearly 800 “votes” on homemade paper ballots, which prompted multiple visits by Nassau County police to his coffee shop over possible voter interference.

The snackfood founder evaded arrest by successfully arguing his ballots were simply comparable to a poll, however, he also claimed the results were indisputable and incorrectly outlined a clear win for himself against Villafane. 

Villafane was running unopposed in what was supposed to be a simple election — until Ehrlich’s village hall antics during which he also tried to fire everyone before being asked to leave.

The incumbent says that during her time in office, Ehrlich has never attended a meeting, joined a committee, or shown any kind of real interest in getting involved in local politics before last week and could’ve gotten himself on the ballot easily.

Ehrlich countered that he no longer tries to do things “the right way,” claiming the village doesn’t play by the rules.

The small-town showdown appears to have inspired many Sea Cliff residents to exercise their civic duty.

“I probably wouldn’t have voted today if it wasn’t for all of the craziness,” Tim Wegner, a 29-year-old Sea Cliff resident, told The Post outside of the polling location.

Wegner said he and a lot of his friends, many of whom never voted in local elections before, felt their ballot weighed a little heavier this time around due to the frenzy caused by Ehrlich.

Aside from claiming victory in Tuesday’s election, Ehrlich maintains he’s already the mayor of the new village he created the day he walked into the village hall, the so-called “Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff Residents.”

Ehrlich argued that through a little-known state law called the Citizen Empowerment Act, he created this new entity and plans on merging both communities — creating an entirely new village that adopts Sea Cliff’s current laws and budgets with him in charge.

The Village of Sea Cliff blasted Ehrlich’s claims as “invalid and unsupported by law.”

Ehrlich even called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to get involved and “set the record straight” for Sea Cliff.

He anticipates a long battle ahead of him, saying he expects his fight for his status of mayor to be taken to court.