Former Managers And Employees Of Connecticut Insurance Firm Charged In $17 Million Scheme To Defraud Client Healthcare Expenses

  Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector in Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced the arrests of ANTHONY RICCARDI, PATRICIA RICCARDI, ERIN VERESPY, and VANESSA BATTLE, former managers and employees of Employee Benefit Solutions LLC (“EBS”), for defrauding clients by misappropriating over $17 million in client funds intended for employee healthcare claims.  ANTHONY RICCARDI, PATRICIA RICCARDI, and ERIN VERESPY appeared before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison in White Plains federal court last week, and VANESSA BATTLE appeared before Judge Davison this morning.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “As alleged in the criminal complaint, the defendants abused their positions as administrators of client healthcare plans for years by creating false and inflated invoices and then misappropriating millions of dollars for their own uses.  As further alleged, the defendants sought to conceal this fraud by creating false bank statements and checks.  Our Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to expose and prosecute egregious fraud schemes.”

Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett said:  “The magnitude and the level of the alleged dishonesty by these individuals is truly unfathomable.  The defendants allegedly enriched themselves with money transferred to EBS intended for the payment of medical expenses.  Once Postal Inspectors caught this case they swiftly uncovered the theft scheme and brought those allegedly responsible to justice for their criminal behavior.”           

According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today[1]:

ANTHONY RICCARDI, PATRICIA RICCARDI, ERIN VERESPY, and VANESSA BATTLE are managers and employees of EBS, a company based in Wilton, Connecticut, that offered a variety of healthcare insurance-related services to clients.  EBS, among other things, provided third party healthcare claims administration (“TPA”) services to clients that elected to “self-fund” (or self-insure) their employee healthcare plans.  As a TPA, EBS would purportedly administer, process, and pay healthcare claims for its clients’ employees in exchange for an administrative fee.

Between at least 2015 and continuing through 2019, EBS represented an automobile dealership chain (“Company-1”) headquartered in Westchester County, New York.  During this time period, EBS served as a TPA for Company-1’s self-funded employee healthcare program and purported to process and pay claims to medical providers that treated Company-1’s employees.  To do this, EBS generated bimonthly “check register” invoices for Company-1 that listed all employee healthcare expenses from healthcare providers during that two-week period.  EBS also administered a bank account on Company-1’s behalf for the express purpose of paying Company-1 healthcare claims.  Company-1 would fund each check register by paying the invoiced amount, expecting that EBS would promptly pay the claims to the healthcare providers.  During this time period, Company-1 transferred approximately $26 million to EBS for the payment of healthcare claims.

In reality, a significant amount of purported checks listed on the EBS “check register” invoices were never actually deposited by the healthcare providers.  Instead, approximately $17.87 million in Company-1 healthcare payments were misappropriated, with the overwhelming majority simply transferred by EBS into its own operating account, where they were used for non-healthcare expenses by the defendants.  For example, a review of bank records indicates that Company-1 healthcare funds were used by ANTHONY RICCARDI and PATRICIA RICCARDI to pay their home mortgage expenses, as well as a personal credit card account with expenses relating to boating and golf.

EBS, through the defendants, made decisions of what few Company-1 healthcare claims they did pay based on which healthcare providers were likely to complain if they did not receive payment, or if the claims were connected to Company-1 executives.  PATRICIA RICCARDI and VERESPY, for example, discussed the timing of payments for Company-1 “VIPs” as well as a “Not VIP” claim that was nonetheless the subject of complaining phone calls.

The “check registers” sent to Company-1 also contained millions of dollars in fraudulent or inflated healthcare claims that were eventually paid by Company-1.  Such efforts were directed by ANTHONY RICCARDI and assisted by BATTLE, who among other things, manually entered a majority of claims relating to a specific pharmacy network that were billed to Company-1, despite approximately $3 million of those claims being fictitious.  Furthermore, on at least one occasion, BATTLE sent an auditor for Company-1’s insurance underwriter a series of pharmacy network claims that were billed to Company-1 despite being significantly inflated from the pharmacy network’s records.

The defendants also took steps to conceal their fraud from Company-1 by creating and sending manipulated and fabricated bank statements and checks to create the appearance that healthcare claims were being paid by EBS, when in reality they were not.  In approximately January 2019, for example, ANTHONY RICCARDI sent multiple bank statements to Company-1 that purported to show healthcare claims being paid out from the account EBS created on Company-1’s behalf.  Such bank statements were significantly altered from the actual bank statements and hid, for example, the millions of dollars that EBS transferred from the Company-1 account into the EBS operating account.  BATTLE sent similar copies of the altered bank statements to an auditor for Company-1’s insurance underwriter.  VERESPY and ANTHONY RICCARDI also exchanged emails showing the creation of altered bank statements on behalf of another client in or about 2018.  Furthermore, on at least one occasion, ANTHONY RICCARDI sent Company-1 an image of an altered check to create the appearance that EBS was handling a delayed healthcare payment.  In so doing, ANTHONY RICCARDI also emailed PATRICIA RICCARDI and BATTLE to ask whether they needed to “make more . . . checks.”

ANTHONY RICCARDI, 42, PATRICIA RICCARDI, 53, and VANESSA BATTLE, 65, each of New Canaan, Connecticut, and ERIN VERESPY, 49, of Trumbull, Connecticut, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office.  Ms. Strauss also thanked the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; and the United States Secret Service, which are assisting in the investigation, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

The charges in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 [1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

Statement Of Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss On The Resentencing Of Sheldon Silver

      “Twice convicted by unanimous juries for abusing his powerful state office to enrich himself, Sheldon Silver will now finally report to prison to begin serving a sentence that can begin to repair the harm his conduct caused to the people of this District and to their trust in local government.  I commend the career prosecutors and agents who have seen this case through two trials and two appeals, ensuring that Silver’s crimes did not go unpunished and proving once again that this Office and our law enforcement partners will never stop pursuing corruption, without fear or favor, at all levels of government.”

Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic

Hospitalizations Down to 716—New Low Since March 18

1.05 Percent of Yesterday's COVID-19 Tests were Positive

8 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

Confirms 519 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 407,326; New Cases in 34 Counties

  Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

"We did the impossible as New Yorkers - we stepped up and conquered the COVID-19 virus and now we have to protect the progress that we have made," Governor Cuomo said. "One of the main threats to our progress is the number of congregations that we're seeing across the state, but especially in downstate, primarily of young people, and we saw it again over the weekend. It is a problem, and I'm telling you in plain New York speak that it's stupid and it has to stop. This not just morality, these restaurants and bars are breaking the law and they are going to make it bad for everyone else because if this continues we're going to have to roll back the reopening plan and close all bars and restaurants."

Today's data is summarized briefly below: 

• Patient Hospitalization - 716 (-6)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 58 (-21)
• Hospital Counties - 31
• Number ICU - 158 (-2)
• Number ICU with Intubation - 93 (-3)
• Total Discharges - 72,229 (+68)
• Deaths - 8
• Total Deaths - 25,056 

Attorney General James Orders Companies to Stop Online Sale of E-Cigarettes to Minors and New Yorkers

  Attorney General Letitia James’ office ordered Cloud X Vapes, HQD Tech USA, and PodVapes to immediately cease and desist illegally selling vaping products online to consumers in New York. These companies illegally sold vaping products online through their websites to New York consumers — a violation of New York state law. In addition, they illegally sold products to minors, offering flavored nicotine vaping products, including cotton candy, pineapple mist, green apple, and others. 

“Candy and fruit flavored vaping products exist to reel teens into the dangerous habit of smoking, which is why New York banned them,” said Attorney General James. “It is shameful that these companies attempted to skirt the law through sneaky, illegal online sales. We will not hesitate to hold those who put our children at risk accountable for their unlawful actions.” 

According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), teen vaping has skyrocketed in recent years, and flavored vaping products are a major cause of this increase. To bolster the ban on vaping sales to minors, New York recently enacted additional legislation aimed at ending teen vaping and the consequent harms caused by these products.  

New York has already prohibited sales of nicotine products to individuals under the age of 21. As of May 18, it is illegal to sell flavored nicotine products in New York, and as of July 1, it is illegal to sell vaping products online and through mail order to New York consumers. 

This action is just the latest in a series of measures Attorney General James has taken to tackle the ongoing youth nicotine epidemic and to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers since taking office. In November 2019, Attorney General James filed a lawsuit against the electronic cigarette company JUUL Labs for deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes, which contributed to the ongoing youth vaping epidemic in New York state. In April 2019, Attorney General James led a coalition of seven states in urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take stronger action in addressing the scourge of e-cigarette use among youths by taking proposed measures such as strengthening guidance, beginning enforcement earlier, and banning online sales of e-cigarettes. 

MAYOR DE BLASIO ON CITY ISSUES AND COVID-19 JULY 20, 2020

  Well, good morning, everybody. We've got a lot to talk about today. First day of phase four, and obviously a very hot day. We're going to talk about the heat advisory. But first take a moment to remember a true American hero, Congressman John Lewis. And all over New York City, all over this country, people are remembering this great man and taking inspiration from him. And this is just what I want to talk about for a moment, because the amazing thing about John Lewis is that for almost 60 years, he was a consistent beacon to all of us. Of what it means to work to make this a better country and to overcome our painful history and take us to some place better. The amazing energy, the hopefulness, the resolve of this man is so much of what bonded all of us to him. No matter what he went through, he found a way to find a hopeful place, to find a north star that moved him forward. And it's something we all need to remember right now. So, we're mourning, but there is something I think even more important. I think he'd say it to us, which is to remember to always stay inspired and focused on the next thing we can make better.

Now, a few months back, in December, I had an incredible honor with my family, of spending time with John Lewis. He spoke at the New York Historical Society. And I asked him how he got inspired originally. And in that picture you see, he's telling the story and he uses the phrase, good trouble. That's his signature phrase, that of how you can make trouble for a positive end. You can fight against something unjust. But he talked about starting out as a kid in a rural area with very little that told him about the outside world. And how teachers and mentors and clergy members started to open his eyes, not just to what was going on and what needed to change, but to what he could do about it. So, this young man who had – he was very clear, no reason to believe that he personally could change the world. He got inspired. And became one of the crucial figures of the Civil Rights Movement and everything since. So, what an honor to have spent time with him.

And let me tell you his legacy lives on, in so many people right now, including a lot of young people that I spent time with over the last few days. And on Friday, I was in Harlem for a town hall meeting with young people. And the spirit of John Lewis was clearly in the room, in the sense that these young people were learning about their own abilities, their own power to make change, their own value, what a different world they could help create. It was very, very moving to hear their voices. And there were voices of pain and they talked about some very difficult experiences they had had, including with police. But they also talked about how they knew that community and police had to come together. They talked about – they knew how we had to create a different relationship, a more human and humane relationship. It was inspiring to hear these voices and realize that they are our future. And our future can be in very good hands if we support them. So those young people in Harlem on Friday inspired me.

On Friday evening, I was in Bed-Stuy with an Occupy the Corners effort, community members taking back their neighborhood, not allowing the gun violence to take over, but reclaiming their own streets. Elected officials, clergy, Cure Violence folks all together. And again on Saturday with the Ceasefire Peace March in Bed-Stuy. I was out there and I saw the incredible energy and commitment. Community members making very, very clear their community, their streets. They would stop the violence, they needed the partnership with NYPD for sure, but they also knew the community had to come forward and the community has come forward. Not just in Bed-Stuy, not just in Harlem, but all over the city. And you're going to see a lot more of that in the coming weeks.

Now, this is all part of our Violence Prevention Plan that Commissioner Shea and I outlined on Friday. And it will work with the combination of pinpointed police efforts and key police deployments where needed most. But also a closer working partnership with communities. That's the key.

Okay. So, I said up top, we should talk obviously about the momentous nature of this day. And I got to tell you, I think a lot of us would have said that it would have been a really, really big challenge, maybe an unlikely possibility that New York City and its comeback from the coronavirus, having been the epicenter of the crisis in the very beginning, that we would get to phase one, phase two, phase three and now phase four exactly on schedule. And we have. And again, credit to all of you, the heroic efforts of New Yorkers fighting back this disease, have made this possible.

So, phase four begins today. A lot of wonderful things. We see sports coming back, baseball back this week, professional baseball, Major League Baseball. That's going to be incredible. Media production starting again, a big part of the life of the city, a big part of people's livelihoods. Some wonderful outdoor activities opening up again, botanical gardens, zoos at more limited capacity, but they will be open and that's going to be great. So many things are moving forward, heavy emphasis on outdoors, but when it comes to certain indoor activities, that's what we keep holding back. So, we're holding back indoor dining, museums, malls, things that we're still not certain can be done right. And a reminder that even though we think there's a lot of evidence of a huge difference between outdoor and indoor and outdoor always being better. And that's why we extended the outdoor dining all the way to October 31st. Let's take maximum advantage of that. It's an amazing thing. But outdoors doesn't mean that people should forget all of the tough lessons that we've learned. And overwhelmingly let's be fair, overwhelmingly around the city, folks who own restaurants, bars, and their customers have been responsible, have been smart, have remembered to follow the rules, but not everywhere.

We saw some real troubling overcrowding in Astoria this weekend, we will not tolerate it. Let's really clear. It's not widespread, but where we find it has to be stopped. There's one restaurant in Astoria that was a focal point for this overcrowding. They've been shut down. And no one wants to shut down bars or restaurants. But if they do not cooperate in our efforts to contain the coronavirus, they will be shut down. We don't want to give out summonses. Everyone's hurting right now, financially, economically. But if we have to, we'll give out summonses. So, there'll be heavier enforcement efforts by the Sheriff's Office and when needed, by the NYPD as well, around bars and restaurants. I want it to be very, very clear when we agreed to let this part of our life come back, it was not meant to be business as usual. It was meant to be with the understanding we all gained the hard way, of why we need social distancing, why we need face coverings, why we need to understand some limits to stop this disease and to never let it come back. So, you'll see, as I said, a very aggressive effort to enforce. And look, I think it's as clear as this – we don't want to shut down restaurants. We don't want to shut down bars, but if we have to shut down a few of those, it is a hell of a lot better than seeing the coronavirus start to surge again in this city.

And we know in other places it was a reckless disregard in the way that bars and restaurants were handled. That was one of the causes of a resurgence of the coronavirus. We will not let that happen here. So, everyone, remember, we've got to keep to those rules, keep educating everyone around you. Face coverings, social distancing work. Now that's the importance of doing that, including when you're outdoors.

And while we're talking about outdoors, let's talk about this very hot week we're going into. And particularly today, today is a day to be very concerned about the heat index could reach 100 today. So everyone remember as we get into these very hot temperatures, take it seriously. Do not minimize the challenge. Stay hydrated, stay cool. When you can stay in air conditioning, check on your neighbors. If you know there's a neighbor who might be a little more vulnerable, a senior or someone with a health condition that might make them more vulnerable, check in on them, make sure they have enough water or anything they need. Now there's going to cooling centers, open all over the city. They'll be smart in the terms, the way they run them. There'll be social distancing, face coverings within the cooling centers, but they'll be available to anyone who needs them for free. And you'll see on your screen, a variety of efforts, outdoors and indoors in our parks and all around to keep people cool. Anyone who needs to know about that? You can call 3-1-1 for locations near you, or go to nyc.gov/beattheheat, get all the information you need.

Okay. I'm about to turn to our daily indicators, but before I do, we have an important milestone in our city's recent history that I want to note. And it's a good one. There is good news, no matter what challenges we face, New Yorkers, keep creating good news. And here's one about Citi Bike. This is quite amazing, just in the last week, a hundred millionth Citi Bike trip in New York City, a hundred million trips on a Citi Bike, all about making sure people can get around, can get around in a way that is friendly to the environment, no emissions, no pollution. This is a fantastic development and also the 1,000 Citi Bike station installed. So, Citi Bike being expanded. This has been proven to be a really good thing in the midst of this pandemic. It has been a great option for a lot of New Yorkers who wanted a different way to get around. And we're going to keep expanding in the Bronx, in Upper Manhattan, folks at Department of Transportation are working every day to make sure there's more and better options. And they are safe options.

Now as do our indicators. Number one daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19, the threshold is 200, today's report, 74 patients. Number two, daily number of people in Health + Hospitals ICUs, threshold 375, today's report 311. And number three, percentage of the people testing citywide positive for COVID-19, threshold of 15 percent, today's report once again, two percent. So a very good day.

MAYOR DE BLASIO, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, LYFT CELEBRATE 100 MILLIONTH CITI BIKE RIDE

Nation’s largest bikeshare system to install 1,000th station this month, continuing expansion into more of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx

  Mayor Bill de Blasio, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Lyft announced today that Citi Bike recently achieved its 100 millionth ride and will install its 1,000th station in New York City since the system's launch in May 2013. Citi Bike, currently expanding to more of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan and adding thousands of ebikes through the rest of the year, saw record ridership in 2019 and is expected to break last year's record of more than 100,000 rides across the system in a single day. With a previous $100 million commitment from Lyft, the system is doubling its footprint by 35 square miles and increasing the number of bikes to 40,000.

 

“Rebuilding a fairer, better city means giving New Yorkers more ways than ever to move around,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “In just seven years, Citi Bike has become a New York institution. I’m proud to stand with them in celebrating this milestone, and I look forward to working with them to expand cycling options even further in the months and years to come.”

 

“As someone who has herself relied on Citi Bike hundreds of times to get where I need to go, I know that 100 million rides on the continent’s largest and best bikeshare system is an enormous achievement,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We extend our congratulations to the entire team at Lyft on this milestone. They have worked hard and creatively to make Citi Bike an even more vital transit option during the COVID-19 crisis — with its Critical Worker Program and continued expansion this year into upper Manhattan and the Bronx.”

 

"In less than a decade Citi Bike has become a beloved fixture of New York City. The success of Citi Bike has consistently shown the demand for sustainable transportation in general and biking in particular is here, we just need to build the infrastructure to match. I look forward to continuing to fight for expanded Citi Bike throughout the five boroughs, especially in neighborhoods starved for transit options,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

 

"Lyft is thrilled to celebrate 100 million rides on Citi Bike and to soon expand the system to more than 1,000 stations across New York," said Laura Fox, General Manager for Citi Bike at Lyft. "We're proud to provide a sustainable, affordable mode of transportation to New Yorkers and to operate one of the few bikeshare systems in the world to hit this major milestone. We look forward to our continued partnership with NYCDOT and Mayor De Blasio and growing this great system."

 

“Citi is extremely proud of our role in helping to create such an iconic and sustainable form of public transportation that now, at the 100 million-ride mark, is also playing a crucial role for New Yorkers during the pandemic,” said Ed Skyler, Citi’s Head of Public Affairs. “We deeply appreciate all of the riders who over the past seven-plus years have made Citi Bike a model for bike share programs worldwide.”

 

Citi Bike is the most widely used bikeshare system in the nation and one of few bikeshare systems around the world to hit the milestone of 100 million all-time rides. Since the system's launch, Citi Bike riders have pedaled more than 120 million miles and offset more than 97 million pounds of carbon and counting. As part of its current Phase 3 expansion, Citi Bike will also install the system’s 1,000th station in August, planned to be at East 160th Street & Tinton Avenue in the Bronx.

 

Annual ridership has steadily increased in recent years, as residents and visitors alike turn to the blue bikes to move around New York City. Riders took 16.7 million trips in 2017, 17.9 million in 2018 and nearly 21 million in 2019. In 2020, Citi Bike has been meeting the needs of this unique moment, providing New Yorkers with an affordable, reliable, sustainable, and socially distant way to get around. Nearly 30,000 critical workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis have been given free Citi Bike memberships through the system’s Critical Workforce Membership Program and a $1 million investment from Citi and Mastercard.

 

Lyft’s critical workforce programs have also created a record high in female bikeshare membership. In New York City, 61.7% of the members of the critical worker program were female. As a result, the share of female membership in the Citi Bike system (currently at 37.8% of active members) has increased by 3.4 percentage points since May 2020, and by 5.1 percentage points compared to June 2019.

 

Citi Bike's Phase 3 expansion is already in progress and will be completed by the end of 2023, doubling the footprint of the network. Citi Bike has 15,000 bikes at nearly 1,000 stations and works with more than 62 community partners across New York City. Late last year, Lyft also launched the first Equity Advisory Council for bikeshare, gathering together 20 organizations to provide an equity lens and guidance for Citi Bike’s expansion.

 

Daily ridership continues to grow as well: the largest bikeshare system in North America regularly records more than 90,000 rides per day in peak season. Riders recently set the new daily ridership record, clocking 100,379 rides on September 21, 2019. Hundreds of ebikes have been added to the system in 2020, with thousands more added by the end of the year. While classic bikes average 4.6 rides per day, Citi Bike riders are showing their appreciation for ebikes which average 10 rides each day.

 

The annual cost of a Citi Bike membership is $179 with an annual commitment. NYCHA residents, SNAP recipients, and members of select community development credit unions are eligible to receive discounted $5/month memberships. Seven thousand New Yorkers access reliable transportation through our Reduced Fare Bikeshare program, presented by Healthfirst. 

 

Hundreds of companies also subsidize annual memberships for their employees as a wellness, transportation, or recreation benefit. Citi Bike’s Bike for Business program has received a number of recent inquiries from organizations as they develop their Back to Office plans. More info available: citibikenyc.com/corporate. 

 

Annual members can unlock a bike from any station, allowing unlimited free trips up to 45 minutes on classic bikes as well as reduced per-minute ebike fees. Day Passes are available for purchase at any Citi Bike station or through the Citi Bike app and provide unlimited 30-minute trips.

 

Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During Covid-19 Pandemic - JULY 19, 2020

Hospitalizations Continue to Drop—New Low of 722 Since March 18

1.08% of Yesterday's COVID-19 Tests were Positive

Confirms 502 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State Yesterday

  Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

"We're continuing to progress forward through the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of a continued explosion of cases throughout the United States, and that's reflected in today's hospitalizations—the lowest number since March 18—and rate of positive cases," Governor Cuomo said. "During these confining and frustrating times, I know it's tempting to be tired of the many rules and guidelines the state has issued, but I reiterate that this pandemic is far from over, and the incredible compliance and fortitude of New Yorkers are key parts of our ability to fight COVID-19. Socially distance, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay New York Smart."

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

• Patient Hospitalization - 722 (-21)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 79 (+14)
• Hospital Counties - 30
• Number ICU - 160 (-12)
• Number ICU with Intubation - 96 (-4)
• Total Discharges - 72,161 (+97)
• Deaths - 13
• Total Deaths - 25,048

Michael Blake - We Should Never Have to Choose Between Life and Democracy

This Op-Ed appeared in the Gotham Gazette on July 18, 2020

We should never have to decide between public health and democracy. We must have both.

We hoped that voter suppression was a thing of the past, and yet it is still present not just in the South but in the South Bronx and across the country.

We are witnessing a public health and democratic crisis that must be addressed immediately—otherwise, lives will be taken as electoral gains are also stolen.  

In short, the coronavirus crisis has cast a light on the deteriorating health of American democracy, and it’s time we act urgently.

In the midst of a global pandemic, state and local governments have had to adjust the way voters participate in elections to minimize transmission of COVID-19 and keep people safe, including using early voting and mail-in ballots so that people have options to cast their vote.

However, the past few months have shown that our electoral system is still in dire need of repair. The fact that it is taking weeks to count ballots in the South Bronx, for example, does not bode well for upcoming elections—the most important of which is defeating Donald Trump in November. 

In Pennsylvania, tens of thousands of voters received their ballots in the mail after the election had passed. Baltimore residents had to wait more than a week longer to receive their ballots than residents of the other parts of Maryland. More than 1,000 voters in New Mexico were disenfranchised because their mail-in ballots arrived too late to be counted on Election Day.  

In Georgia, tens of thousands of voters had yet to receive their ballots by mail on the day before the primary election, and more than 10% of in-person polling places in the state had been closed, forcing many voters to wait for hours in line at those sites that remained open. 

Unfortunately, in New York’s June primary elections, we saw more of the same—delayed or missing ballots causing the disenfranchisement of people unable to leave their homes due to health concerns; polling places closed or moved without explanation; lifelong Democrats told to submit an affidavit ballot because their party status was somehow in question; voters forced to wait hours in line in the midst of a pandemic.

There were just under 800,000 absentee ballots sent out by the New York City Board of Elections and more than 400,000 absentee ballots returned by voters. However, we still have no clarity on the actual number of people who never received their ballots or received them late, nor the actual timetable of when the ballots were mailed out in the first place.

We also still don't know why the top voting Black polling place in my Assembly District (the 79th) was moved nor why several of our polling places were opened late nor why so many persons were only given presidential primary ballots nor why so many largely Black polling places have two-hour-plus lines due to insufficient equipment and scanners going down. Some may call these all innocent errors, but there's simply too much consistency to ignore, too much likely intentionality to overlook.

When the government needs to contact us to collect money, the mail system works seamlessly. However, from delayed stimulus checks earlier this year to now delayed ballots, we are not helping our fellow Americans to recover and exercise their right to participate in our democracy.

Simply put, it is unacceptable that untold numbers of Americans are being asked to literally risk their lives to participate in the electoral process because of the inadequacies of the vote-by-mail system and boards of elections. 

I am proposing the following set of remedies.

First, all poll workers must receive non-partisan training, be treated as skilled employees with approved certification, and have no connection to any candidate or campaign. Moreover, the leadership and staff at boards of elections should always be independently appointed.

Second, there must be a public schedule that explicitly sets forth when ballots should be received by voters in the mail, ensuring some degree of government accountability. In addition, there must be a tracking system to notify voters of ballot distribution and arrival, just as there would be for any package purchased online. 

Third, if someone is found to have participated in voter suppression, he or she must be immediately referred to the New York State Attorney General for investigation.

Fourth, we must ensure that devices at polling places are able to identify a voter who lives within that site's jurisdiction so that people are not unjustly turned away from their polling site or forced to submit an affidavit ballot.

Fifth, the public must be given transparency as to why a person is asked to vote by affidavit ballot or has had their ballot invalidated. My team has identified several hundred affidavit ballots that were initially deemed invalid, many for simply undemocratic reasons such as a person who is confirmed by the Board of Elections to be a Democrat had their ballot invalidated because they didn’t check a box  for why they were voting by affidavit. What if the person didn’t know why they were being forced to vote affidavit or the poll worker didn’t actually have a reason?

Sixth, there must be emergency allocations for local boards of elections and postal services to have sufficient capacity prior to the election. In the event that legal action is required in the 15th Congressional District -- or elsewhere -- to review the election results, that election should not be certified until the legal action is resolved. This should be the standard across the board.

Seventh, wherever possible, a public hearing and approval process must be established prior to moving a polling site.

It pains me to think that this undemocratic process has occurred over the course of many decades. Anyone who has contributed to the intentional disenfranchisement and suppression of voters should be ashamed, as your silence has led to the voices of New Yorkers not being heard.

If you voted by affidavit or absentee ballot, you should demand an immediate answer as to whether your ballot has been deemed valid and counted in this electoral contest. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are thinking right now that their vote was counted, but unbeknownst to them, and for some undisclosed reason, their ballot was in fact voided.

We should not have to sift through countless reams of paper to discover that New Yorkers—especially those in low-income, Black and brown neighborhoods—are being unfairly disenfranchised and suppressed.

The reforms outlined above are necessary because these issues are not theoretical. A recent study found that Wisconsin’s decision to hold an in-person election in April led to a substantial spike in coronavirus infections. In other words, these election-related issues are a matter of life and death. If we’re going to offer the early and mail-in voting that we should, it must work, and work well, to ensure that New Yorkers and all American voters have their right to vote protected and ensured.

As I continue to cry and mourn the loss of Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis, whom I had the honor to meet several times and bestowed upon me one of his final endorsements, my spirit reflects heavily on one of his many profound sayings: "If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it." As we enter the fourth week after our election with so many unresolved problems, I'm writing this because we have a moral obligation to end the voter disenfranchisement and suppression that occurs across New York State and this country.

Countless numbers of our ancestors marched, bled, and died for the inalienable right to vote.  We shouldn’t have to risk death to vote again.

Michael Blake