Special Election Alert: Dead voter casts ballot in Springfield

Dead voter casts ballot in Springfield

By PAUL CHESSER

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—A woman who cast an absentee ballot late last year died last week, but apparently her vote will still count, despite the fact that it may have been illegal.

An officer, who did not want to be identified, at the Van Sickle Middle School poll revealed the nature of the situation after a discussion with this reporter about a recent story that cited the number of deceased persons on Massachusetts voter rolls. "Well, I'm about to cast a vote for a dead person here in a little while," he said.

He went on to explain that the voter, a woman who he would not identify, mailed her absentee ballot on December 26, 2009 to the Board of Elections. According to at least two other poll workers, the woman passed away last week and her funeral was on Thursday. Asked if he knew whether it was a legal ballot or not, he responded that he wasn't sure, and called the City of Springfield Election Commission Office.

Less than five minutes later he received a return call from an unidentified official with city elections saying the ballot was legal. A later conversation with Gladys Oyola, acting election commissioner, revealed that city staff consulted with the Secretary of State's office and were informed that the ballot was legal.

However, Chapter 54, Section 100 of the General Laws of Massachusetts states, "No ballot mailed or delivered…shall be counted if the officers charged with the duty of counting the same are cognizant of the fact that the voter has died prior to the opening of the polls on the day of the election."

A worker in the city election office explained that she had consulted with the Secretary of State's office. "I get my instructions from the state," she explained, adding the information about the woman's passage was "hearsay." She did not want to be identified in a news story.

Earlier at the Van Sickle School the poll worker relayed that he was told the same thing – that the voter's death was "hearsay." He then said to this reporter, "It's not hearsay; they (the other poll workers) went to her funeral." But he accepted the city's counsel that the ballot was legal. The language of the law addressing the situation was not discovered until later this afternoon.

Asked for someone who could speak on the record on behalf of the city election office, Oyola then got on the phone. She explained that the absentee ballots are sent to the appropriate polling places for counting on Election Day.

"As far as us here in the office, we weren't aware she died," Oyola said, adding that because of that the vote should be counted. She then checked with the warden at Van Sickle and discovered that the absentee ballots had already been fed into the voting machine. "At this time, it has been counted," she said.

Calls to the Scott Brown and Martha Coakley campaigns seeking official comment were not returned prior to filing this story. An employee who answered the phone at Secretary of State William Galvin's office was aware of what happened at Van Sickle, and said the office was looking into it, but passed on an inquiry about the matter to spokesman Brian McNiff. He said he did not know about the situation and said he would call back once he obtained more information, but had not prior to the filing of this report.



Election Observer: Coakley worker offers to buy poll workers lunch, told by cop to "sit down"

Election Observer: Coakley worker offers to buy poll workers lunch, told by cop to "sit down"

January 19th, 2010, Lawrence, MA--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv91DNlEzP0

Special Election Alert: Latinos busy in Springfield, MA, light turnout though

Latinos busy in Springfield, MA, light turnout though

By PAUL CHESSER

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Reflecting anecdotal observations from yesterday, voter turnout in about a dozen city precincts was light before business hours in the special Senate election this morning.

Campaign activity also was nearly non-existent, with one exception: a busy Latino community near the Riverview Community Room, which houses two polling wards and is surrounded by a few subsidized housing apartment buildings and tightly-packed neighborhood of smaller dwellings.

Heriberto Flores stood a few hundred feet from the poll entrance wearing a Vietnam Veterans ballcap and propping up a Martha Coakley campaign sign. His SUV idled nearby, and he chatted with fellow supporter and friend Jose Claudio. Both chatted amiably and eagerly about their efforts on the Democratic candidate's behalf, saying that Coakley's campaign visited their community and sought their votes.

"The Latino community needs the real personal touch," said Flores, a 40-plus-year resident of Springfield originally from Puerto Rico. He said he believed Coakley would carry on the legacy of late Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose office he said always excelled with citizens' services when they needed him. "They always responded to us," he said.

Both Flores and Claudio said they never saw anyone from Scott Brown's campaign the last few weeks, which might be understandable since both said they had never voted for a Republican in their lives. Their observations run contrary to other media reports about alleged lackluster campaigning by Coakley, as opposed to Brown's energetic efforts.

Only one Brown campaign sign was spotted at the approximately 30 polling places visited by Watchdog.org reporters in Springfield this morning. As for Coakley, five voting venues featured her signs: two handheld by supporters, with the others attached to fences or posts. No signs for independent candidate Joe Kennedy were spotted at any polls.

Coakley's campaign received an additional boost in Flores's community from three supporters circulating nearby neighborhoods in a car, calling upon residents via loudspeaker to get out and vote for her. Most of the pleas were proclaimed in Spanish, but in case anyone might get missed, her backers included a smattering in English. "We need your vote today for Martha Coakley" and "Let's keep Ted Kennedy's dream alive" were among the appeals.

But despite their efforts, Riverview turnout was no stronger than any other voting place before 10:00 a.m. Poll officials said they had 66 ballots cast, which aligned with reports from other sites.

http://washingtonalert.org/?p=924

Special Election Alert: Campaign signs taken down from polling locations amid complaints

Campaign signs taken down

By Ashley Badgley

BOSTON (Mass) —In Dorchester's District 15, three out of seven polling places had signs illegally posted within 150 feet of the building.

Signs within 150 feet of a polling place are prohibited, according to the Secretary of State's Election Day Summary.

Polls located at the following addresses in Dorchester had signs posted in support of candidate, Martha Coakley.

1)      Fire Station, Ladder 7, Engine 17: 7 Parish St., 2 signs posted.

2)      Pasciucco Apartments: 330 Bowdoin St., 1 sign posted.

3)      John Marshall School: 35 Westville St., 3 signs posted.

When signs are posted too close to a polling place, the polling wardens and other election employees are not allowed to take them down. They are, however, required to report it to city hall if they receive a complaint, Warden Wilma Brown from the polls at 330 Bowdoin St. said.

"[The sign] is not mine to take down," Brown said.

Brown said she called city hall because she received a complaint. There were no issues and the sign was quickly removed, she said.

"It is my obligation as the warden here," Brown said. "There was a complaint and I called and they took it down."

Despite the rules forbidding election workers and voters from removing the signs, one of the signs in front of the Fire Station at 7 Parish St. was quickly torn down by a man standing outside.

Marianne Armstrong, registrar with the City of Boston Elections office, said the number of complaints thus far is not yet known.

She said when they receive complaints, the warden tells the police officer on location to take it down.

"There is an officer at every location," Armstrong said. "If the warden tells the police officer, the officer takes the sign down."

Brown has been working at the 330 Bowdoin St. location for 18 years. Every year, she said signs are posted where the removed Coakley sign was. Up until this year, she said, no complaints have ever been filed.

"People have always posted signs," she said. "People can't stand there with signs, but signs have always been there."

As of 9 a.m., about 60 people had voted at Brown's location.

http://washingtonalert.org/?p=908

NRN - MA. Polling Official: "We Have to Call City Hall" Before Signs Removed

From NetRightNation.com:

We reported earlier on sign violations at precincts in Boston. An in the field reporter for NRN spoke with an election official at a precinct about these violations. Click here to see the video.

(H/T Samantha Barrett for capturing this footage)

If these people can't enforce the rules on signs, how will they be able to run a fair election?

Watch the video at NetRightNation.com.