COURTESY PHOTO
One of the nomination papers submitted to the Election Office by candidate Eliud Alcala that is the subject of an inquiry.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — The election for Ward 4 city councilor has been thrown into uncertainty as the Essex County District Attorney is investigating whether nomination papers for a first time candidate are fraudulent.
Eliud Alcala is vying to unseat longtime City Councilor Richard Colucci. But there are charges the 41-year-old challenger forged some of the signatures he collected on his nomination papers.
Robert Tucker, a Colucci supporter, filed the complaint and appeared before the Election Commission on Monday, alleging some of the signatures are fraudulent.
Tucker’s attorney, Sam Vitali, said the complaint wasn’t about whether Alcala is qualified to run for office. Rather, it’s whether state and city election rules have been followed. He alleged there are several signatures with the same handwriting and many instances where the names of streets were misspelled. He called the situation “a crime.”
“You don’t have to be a Russian hacker,” he said. “You don’t have to have a computer. You can impugn the integrity of the election system with a paper and pen, and that’s what was done here … It was an attempt at a fraud.”
Of the 180 signatures filed by Alcala, 61 have been rejected by the city’s Election Office. District council candidates need 100 signatures to be on the ballot. As of the hearing, he had 119.
Vitali said it wasn’t just a matter of someone signing for a family member. It’s a case where someone intended to cheat the system. He said it would only take a handwriting expert two minutes to determine that there was one person, possibly two, who signed.
In addition, Vitali said it was important for the commission to assert their authority so anyone who fails to follow the rules and obtain signatures the proper way risks criminal prosecution.
He wants the panel to determine that more signatures were invalid than valid, that Alcala did not get 100 legitimate signatures in time, and that he does not qualify to appear on the ballot, Vitali said.
Tucker said he filed the challenge because it was blatantly obvious to him that the signatures were from one or maybe two people, and that the integrity of the process has to be protected. He said one family of four, whose signatures appear on the papers, made statements that they did not sign the forms and did not authorize anyone to.
But Alcala insisted he and his supporters gathered the signatures by going door-to-door and outside supermarkets.
On Alcala’s nomination papers, the Election Office noted it rejected the 61 signatures because there was no such person at the address listed, it was unable to identify the signature or address because it was illegible, the signer did not live in the ward, or the person signed the papers more than once.
Gardy Jean-Francois, who represented Alcala at the hearing, argued the challenge should be dismissed based on a technicality. According to state law, he said anyone filing an objection must send a copy of the challenge to the respondent, meaning Tucker should have notified Alcala. Instead, he said the city of Lynn sent a copy of the objection to Alcala.
Jean-Francois also said state law dictates the objection should clearly state the reasons for the challenge. He said Tucker failed to follow procedure and Alcala did not receive any statement on why the signatures were being challenged.
It appeared Tucker had been appointed to tarnish Alcala’s reputation, Jean-Francois said. In his defense, Alcala said his integrity was on the line.
But city attorney and commission member Michael Barry disagreed, saying the matter was about whether the candidate followed procedure.
Maria Carrasco, a school committee member, spoke in favor of Alcala, calling him an honest person. She said he followed the law and noted many non-English speaking Latinos do not know how to spell addresses.
Paul Coombs, Alcala’s campaign manager, questioned whether an address was even required for signatures, and was told by the city clerk Janet Rowe and administrative assistant, Karen Richard that it wasn’t. He said clearly some of the addresses were written in the same handwriting, and from his experience going door-to-door, addresses may have been written down to ensure accuracy.
He insisted there is no indication that the signatures themselves are written in the same hand. Most of them look different to him, adding that people’s signatures change over time, he said.
“In all likelihood, if both candidates are going to be on the ballot this year, then it’s a question of integrity and that’s why we’re so upset,” Coombs said. “We believe that this was thrown out here to deliberately make Eliud look dishonest.”
Despite the matter being referred to the district attorney’s office by the Election Commission, the panel maintains jurisdiction and is expected to meet again within the next two weeks. They have up to 14 days to make a decision.
Although Alcala has enough signatures to get on the ballot, the commission has subpoena powers. They can request original signature cards filed at City Hall when a voter registers and compare them, or randomly select voters whose name appears on nomination papers and ask them if they signed it.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at gcawley@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley