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charm
Senior Member
264 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2010 : 07:30:44 AM
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Flaherty calls off bid for recount
By State House News Service | September 25, 2010
State Senate candidate Tim Flaherty yesterday called off his request to recount ballots cast in Everett during the Democratic primary won by Senator Sal DiDomenico, but alleged that absentee voting laws were broken in the contest that he lost by 178 votes.
In a letter to Everett Clerk Michael Matarazzo, Flaherty alleged “multiple obvious examples’’ of statutory violations of absentee ballots cast in that city and called on the clerk to investigate them.
Flaherty said state Representative Stephen Smith voted by absentee ballot “despite the fact that he was a candidate in a contested primary and was actively campaigning throughout primary day in Everett.’’ Flaherty added, “Representative Smith is in clear violation of the statute, his absentee ballot is invalid, and his vote should not have been counted.’’
Flaherty said state laws allow an absentee ballot to be used for three reasons: absence from a city or town during normal polling hours, physical disability, or religious beliefs; and that absentee ballots must be signed “under the pains and penalties of perjury,’’ with penalties for false applications punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison.
Flaherty noted the 744 absentee ballots cast in Everett outnumbered the collective number of absentee ballots cast in Allston-Brighton, Cambridge, Somerville, Charlestown, Chelsea, Revere, and Saugus.
He said absentee ballots accounted for 20 percent of the total vote in Everett.
Flaherty wrote that he discontinued the recount because he felt “this hard-fought contest should be free from any controversy.’’
HOW TRUE THIS IS |
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Everett Again
Posted - 09/03/2010 : 12:11:29 AM
