LEOMINSTER – The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office said it is investigating allegations that ballots from the Nov. 7 municipal election were not stored or sealed at City Hall according to state law.
In a letter dated Dec. 6 to City Clerk Lynn Bouchard from Michelle K. Tassinari, director and legal counsel of the Elections Division in Boston, Ms. Tassinari says her office received information that ballots were not placed in sealed containers by precinct officials following the counting of votes at each polling place, and that voted ballots were transported to, and stored at, City Hall unsealed.
In an email Wednesday, Ms. Tassinari said, “At this point, we do not have an estimated time of when the review will be complete. We will be seeking information from the City Clerk, which may lead to further inquiries, and then must prepare a report before we can finalize a resolution.”
Ms. Bouchard said Ms. Tassinari’s office requested more information from her about the issue late Wednesday afternoon, the day after Dean J. Mazzarella’s inauguration.
During a recount in November of the mayoral election, alleged improprieties during the election were brought up publicly.
Write-in candidate Kenneth J. Ricker, who threw his name in as a candidate just five weeks before the election, lost to the mayor by just 210 votes, according to original tallies. Mr. Ricker later called for a recount that was held shortly after the election Nov. 7. The recount showed the two candidates were separated by just 106 votes. Final results showed Mr. Mazzarella took 4,480 votes to Mr. Ricker’s 4,374 votes.
However, during the recount, it was discovered that ballots were not stored or sealed properly in the city clerk’s safe.
At the time, Mr. Ricker’s lawyer, Gerry McDonough, who he hired to represent him for the recount, said he had concerns about inconsistencies in how the ballots were handled.
“We saw piles of ballots that were not sealed in any container and we’re still not sure how they made their way from the polling place into the safe,” Mr. McDonough said before the recount results were announced. “They were just lumped in a pile and they were mostly Mr. Ricker’s ballots. There is a need for some change in the way that elections are managed in the city because you just want to be sure that elections are run fair and square.”
Mr. Mazzarella said Wednesday he and his department have “no say” over elections or ballots. The city clerk reports to the City Council, he said. Moreover, he said he has no access to the safe where ballots are stored in the city clerk’s office.
“We (my department) don’t go near it,” Mr. Mazzarella said.
Ms. Bouchard said the only officials who can access the safe are herself, the assistant city clerk and the computer operator who works in elections.
Mr. Mazzarella said he believes Ms. Bouchard has always “done a good job”.
Regarding the investigation, he said, “We’re going to the let the Elections Division do its job.”