Was There Voter Fraud in the 86th A.D. Special Election

This is a letter that came to us from the Hector Ramirez Camp claiming voter fraud in the special election in the 86th A.D. on Primary Day. This letter is unsubstantiated at the time it has been posted.

Office of Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 1224

United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York
Attn: Chief, Civil Rights Unit
86 Chambers Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10007
Fax:  (212) 637-2750

Civil Rights Bureau
New York State Attorney General's Office
 (212) 416-8250 or civil.rights@ag.ny.gov

ANDREW BRUNSDEN
abrunsden@doi.nyc.gov
City of New York Department of Investigation -
80 Maiden Lane, New York, N.Y. 10038
(212) 825-2870
Fax: (212) 825-0125

Re: Please help the people  of the West Bronx
          

            The process for New York State Assembly's 86th district Special Election has not concluded, but what happened provides robust evidence of all that is wrong with the ingrained corruption in our political system that keeps leaving our neighborhoods behind. Despite many obstacles, the  people voted and when the results started to indicate that the handpicked candidate by the Bronx political machine was falling behind, the counting stopped. Events during election day indicate that the Board of Elections in the Bronx is not an independent or fair government body, and we are afraid that they are maneuvering to contaminate the results and impose the will of their political bosses.

           We are urging the state, city and federal government to step in and help the people of the 86th district by conducting an investigation into the process and making sure that all candidates were held to the same standards by the Board of Elections, and all irregularities are fully uncovered and rectified.

          Following events that prompted the resignation of Assemblyman Nelson Castro, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the people of the impoverished area of district 86 the opportunity to elect their own representative, by calling for an open election in which the corrupt political machine that has  bullied  the area would not have the sole power of continuing to handpick the candidates.

      Governor Cuomo's decision was a breath of fresh air for the democratic process, since seven candidates were able to get on the ballot, campaign and deliver their messages to the people, but that did not stop the corrupt machine from using all kinds of illegal maneuvers and government resources to try to impose their handpicked candidate, with the sole and obscure credential of being a staffer to State Senator Gustavo Rivera.

     On September 10th hundreds of people went to the polling places in the 86th district to encounter scenarios comparable to a third word dictatorship or an abusive dysfunctional electoral system.

These events included, but are not limited to:

• The use of hundreds of inspectors, paid by the Board of Elections, as campaign workers for the handpicked candidate inside the polling sites, including the mother of the candidate and another staffer of Senator Rivera.

• Delegates of different candidates bullied around by County appointed inspectors and by Senator Rivera and county boss Carl Hastie himself inside the polling site, which is illegal.

• Voters and other candidates testimonies, point to these "board workers" as telling voters how to vote, often pointing at Mr. Pichardo as the way to do so.

• Polling Centers at P.S 306 did not have candidate Hector Ramirez's name on the ballot.

• Polling site at P.S 206, of Aqueduct Ave, in which the trigger to vote for Ramirez was continually stuck.

• P.S 85 at 2400 Marion Avenue, Machines where mysteriously shutdown. Polling site at JBH senior center, at 230 E 179 street voters were turned away because supposedly the machines did not work. Also poll watchers from other candidates were taken out by police officer.

• The ED 17’s machines had all levers broken but Victor Pichardo's. So voters could only vote for Bronx County's candidate.

• BOE executive and sister of county leader Carl E. Hastie coming to the Bronx offices in the middle of the night, on election night, sending everyone home and staying with a few selected people.

• The Board of Election abruptly decided to stop counting the votes, after counting only 88% without taking the necessary precaution to give all the candidates transparent and fair assurances that those "broken" machines will not be tampered with further. Later, news reports appeared that they counted 100% (see http://www.nytimes.com/projects/elections/2013/nyc-primary/other_races/results.html) with, obviously, Mr. Pichardo on top by a few votes.

            Many of these and other problems are documented and others were reported by frustrated voters to government agencies, including the NY Attorney General  hotline during election day for proper follow up.

Although we are confident that Hector Ramirez won this election, our state, city and federal government need to step in to stop this madness and get to the bottom of what happened here to prevent these corrupt political machines from continuing to politically enslave the people of the Bronx.

A district that has just suffered such a blow of corruption and lack of representation deserves that every vote be truly counted.

We will not rest until the government agencies are not used as personal corporations to suppress political participation.

On behalf of the people of District 86

Respectfully,

For contact and additional informational

List in formation:

Hector Ramirez                                               *                                              Yudelka Tapia



Haile Rivera                                                    *                                            
Keny Nuñez