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

 The above is a compelling photo which shows only levers to pull for the top two of the seven total candidates in this race were in place on this lever voting machine. This along with several accusations by not one or two, but four of the other candidates that fraud did exist in many different has forced the four candidates Hector Ramirez, Yudelka Tapia, Hallie Rivera, and Keny Nunez to call for an investigation of the long list of accusations and even for a new election. Some of the accusations are in a previous posting, but there seemed to be no more than the usual problems with the old machines in 86th A.D.. 

  There were reports of names missing from the enrollment books, as Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner claimed his name was not in the enrollment book when he went to vote. Mayoral candidate Joe Lhota had to use a paper ballot because the voting machine at his table was not working. There were reports of machines being delivered to the wrong council districts, as well as some of the old problems of levers getting jammed, missing, or breaking off in one way or another. 

  As seems to be the case in the 86th A.D. special election the four candidates questioning the election have said that they were not allowed access to the voting machines prior to the election, found one candidates relatives working at a pole site, found what they have called electioneering by State Senator Gustavo Rivera, and Bronx Democratic County Leader 83rd A.D. Assemblyman Carl Heastie inside poll sites, Poll workers telling voters how to vote, among a list of other items.

  In the past there had been only reports of irregularities by one candidate at one or two poll sites in any race, not by four different candidates in the same race at so many different poll sites.

  I found out that after the election (as in the past) most lever voting machines were kept at the poll sites, and all due to be back in the Board of Elections care by midnight Thursday September 12th. Friday September 13th said voting machines were to be opened up and re canvased. Since only a plastic zip lock strip was used to secure the voting machines front I decided to visit the Bronx Board of Elections to see just what condition the voting machines were in when they came back. As you will see in the photos below ALL of the voting machine were placed in lines and the plastic zip lock strips on the front were broken before the re canvassing so it was not known if any came back with any broken front seals. . 

Left & Right - The lever voting machines are lined up for the re canvassing with all of the front plastic zip lock seals having been broken beforehand. You can even see some doors are open on a few machines. Click on a photo to enlarge it.

  I have reached out to Senator Gustavo Rivera and to Bronx Democratic County for comments on this matter. Senator Rivera's staff said that they would forward me a copy of a statement by Senator Rivera which I have not received yet, and did not get a call back from County Leader Heastie or any statement from him. I will be exploring this matter further in my column of "100 PERCENT" that can be found in next weeks editions of the Bronx News. Parkchester News, and Coop - City News. 

Voting Machines to be Recanvassed Friday Morning

  Friday morning all lever voting machines are expected to be at the borough offices of the Board of Elections to be opened once again after being sealed after the tally was taken election night to verify the results. Many lever voting machines are still in poll sites, and the voting machines which have been sealed with nothing more than a plastic Ziplock strip have been left unguarded in most cases awaiting pick up. 

  I called the Board of Elections to find out that every lever voting machine is expected to be back at the borough offices by Thursday night at the latest. When I asked about the plastic Ziplock strip securing the machine I was told that procedures are in place if the tag is broken. When I asked "what procedures are in place" I was told "procedures". 

  The reason for the recount is that mistakes can be made in reading the small dials on the lever voting machines by Board of Election poll workers after 15 hours of working the poll site. I have seen this first hand when 300 votes for one candidate were missed when the poll worker did not see the very small #3 in the hundreds roll of the lever voting machine. It was an honest mistake, but mistakes have happened to often on the old lever voting machines.

 

In the photo above taken Wednesday night only the small plastic Ziplock strip is in the way of tampering with this voting machine or the other to the right of it as both wait to be picked up for delivery back to the Board of Elections.

Board of Elections Hearings-Is it a Big Waste of Money?

   We were at the hearings of the Board of Elections for the Bronx candidates that were either challenging their opponent or being challenged by their opponent. The hearings started on time at 10 AM however only 6 of the 10 commissioners were on hand when the hearings began. A quorum of 6 of the 10 commissioners is needed only to hold hearings and be able to vote on matters before the board. We were given the names of the missing commissioners by Ms. Valerie Vasquez (of the board) as Commissioners Dent (Bklyn Dem), Schacher (Bklyn Rep), Saunias (Man Dem), and Polonco (Bx Rep). We saw Commissioners Dent and Schacher arrive at 10:20AM, and Commissioner Polonco and Saunias arrived a short time later.

   We had a story (in our column in the Bronx News) two years ago at this time about "King Stanley" referring to one of (if not) the best election lawyers in the Bronx Mr. Stanley K. Schlein ESQ..King Stanley was magnificent in his arguments in trying to keep his (or should we say Bronx Democratic County) candidates on, while doing his best to knock off any opponents. While there remained a few "Renegade" (as king Stanley said) candidates that were kept on the ballot by the commissioners of the Board of Elections, those words "Similar Handwriting, Forgery, and Fraud" were said by King Stanley which means that those renegades would be taken to court to knock them off since the Board of Elections does not rule on those items.

   We saw one possible candidate for a city council seat in 2013 in the audience taking notes, and he probably wanted to see what he would be up against as a renegade candidate or would have on his side should the Bronx Democratic County organization endorse him. Mayor Bloomberg has said that the Board of Elections is "A waste of taxpayer money", and we might have to agree with the mayor. Nothing has changed at the Board of Elections, and there is no reason why the incumbent state legislatures would want to change a system that is tilted way in their favor. We also wondered how a commissioner appointed by the borough county organization (Democrat or Republican) could rule on a matter of their party in their borough. Below are a few photos of the hearings

Left - The hearings have started and there are some empty chairs.

Right - Commissioner Polonco is seated.

Left - King Stanley with his crew as they await the next challenge.

Right - King Stanley in action defending the petition of 78th A.D. Assemblyman Jose Rivera. It was Rivera that fired King Stanley during Rivera's tenure as Bronx Democratic County Chairman.

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