Board of Elections Votes to Investigate All of Matos' Signatures
GoLocalProv News Team
Board of Elections Votes to Investigate All of Matos' Signatures
The move comes nearly two and a half weeks after the board voted to refer questions about the signatures submitted by the Matos campaign to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office for review.
The measure was approved 5 to 2.
Board Chair Diane Mederos voted in opposition to the measure put forth by board member Randall Jackvony.
“I speak for myself — the board correctly referred this to the AG,” said Mederos. “I am confident in the work of the local boards. They have had this responsibility for decades. Signatures on nominations paper are considered valid unless challenged. In my mind, the signature validation process ended July 21. I can’t support any measures while well-intentioned to revisit the signatures.”
As it currently stands, Matos is on the ballot in September.
Board member Jennifer Johnson voted in support of the measure to review all signatures.
“I think we should have reviewed the signatures two weeks ago,” said Johnson. “This was unprecedented in the numbers, 18 -20 egregiously fraudulent signatures is too many. I would have done it differently.”
“The voters deserve this — there shouldn’t be a cloud over this. As we move forward — we do have an election to run but there should be more clarity in this particular case,” she added.
A measure put forth by board member Louis DeSimone to subpoena the 11 signature gatherers for Matos was not seconded.
Evan England of Matos' campaign said in a statement, "The Board of Elections and Secretary of State determined that the campaign had more than enough signatures certified by the local Boards of Canvassers to ensure Lt. Governor Matos’ place on the ballot. Rhode Islanders deserve to have confidence in our democratic process. We, too, want to understand what transpired with our nomination papers, and we look forward to hearing the results of this review."
Carlson Speaks Out
One of Matos' rivals in the battle for the first congressional district, Don Carlson, said in a statement, “Kudos to the Board of Elections for responding to the will of the people by using its plenary authority to launch a full investigative review of the signatures submitted by the Matos campaign. When my campaign set this process in motion with our original challenge, this outcome was exactly the remedy we requested."
Carlson blasted legal counsel to the BOE.
"The BOE debated the issue in full public view today – wisely mindful of Justice Brandeis’ admonition that ‘sunshine is the best of disinfectants.’ The secret backroom meetings advocated by BOE’s legal counsel {Raymond A. Marcaccio} did serious damage to the public’s confidence in our elections. At a time when our democratic process is under regular attack by a former President and his minions, it is critical not to take shortcuts. The public’s business should be done in public," said Carlson.
Carlson added, "Members correctly noted that the Attorney General’s criminal investigation will be limited to crimes committed by specific individuals and likely will be completed long after the election is over. Restoring the public’s trust in the electoral process requires prompt and decisive action by the BOE on the issues relating to the election itself."