Mattiello victory still not certified

By John Howell
Posted 11/15/16

When the mail ballots were counted for House District 15 the race ended up just the way House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello predicted after the polls closed election night: he would be the winner, although the machine count had him trailing

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Mattiello victory still not certified

Posted

When the mail ballots were counted for House District 15 the race ended up just the way House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello predicted after the polls closed election night: he would be the winner, although the machine count had him trailing Republican Steve Frias by 147 votes. A confident Mattiello told supporters who packed the Oaklawn Grange that he had 300 mail ballots and was the victor. After counting the mail ballots Mattiello led Frias by 65 votes.

But while Mattiello went on to participate in a Democratic party caucus reaffirming party support of his leadership role Thursday night, the state Board of Elections has yet to certify the results and most definitely there will be a recount as well as continued efforts by Frias to reject mail ballots he claims were falsely notarized.

Frias sought to halt the count of mail ballots Thursday on the basis of a story appearing in the Providence Journal that a man identified as “Bob” provided a mail ballot to Larry Winkler of Leah Drive, Cranston. Winkler told the newspaper that Bob stood over him as he completed the ballot and asked him why he wanted to vote for Frias. Additionally, in an affidavit submitted to the board, Frias claims Gus Bucci, a volunteer for Mattiello, collected absentee ballots and failed to have them witnessed by two people or a notary. While a mail ballot does not contain the name of the voter, to be legitimate it must be sealed in an envelope that contains the printed name and signature of the voter plus two individuals or notary who witnessed the signature.

In the case of Winkler and in other cases, Frias alleges, mail ballots distributed by Mattiello volunteers were returned to headquarters or some other location where they were notarized. Such action, Frias says, would invalidate those ballots and violate the notary’s responsibility as defined by law.

To count the mail ballots, they are separated from the envelopes after the envelopes have been checked for the appropriate signature and witnesses and run through an electronic voting machine. There is no way of identifying what ballot came from what envelope, so even if it was established that multiple signatures had not been properly witnessed, it couldn’t be established which ballots should be invalidated.

Frias’ argument, made by attorney Brandon Bell, state Republican Party chairman, was to address the legitimacy of the mail ballots before they were counted. Under questioning by the board counsel Raymond Marcaccio, Bell agreed since Winkler and others he named in his affidavit weren’t present that the allegations were hearsay.

Bell’s argument went further. He noted the House Democratic Caucus was planned for that night at the Chapel Grille in Cranston and proceeding with the mail ballot count, should it give Mattiello the votes he claimed, ensure his continued leadership before certification of his election. Marcaccio observed the caucus is a Democratic affair and, as such, not controlled by the Board of Elections.

Asked by reporters if his complaint would disenfranchise voters, Frias maintained that some mail ballots should be invalidated because the process had not been followed.

Patti Doyle, spokeswoman for Mattiello’s campaign in an email responded, "The attempt by Republican Steve Frias to interrupt and delay the counting of the ballots of the District 15 election is an effort to disenfranchise over 700 votes of the people he sought to represent.  His goal is to prevent Nick Mattiello from having a Democratic Party Caucus tonight at the cost of disenfranchising the entire district. He should respect the will of the voters of District 15 and not try to stop their voices from being heard.”

The board voted to proceed with the count and to put aside action on Frias’ complaint until Nov. 16.

A board spokesperson was not able to say Monday when the board would take up the matter of election certification.

Comments

1 comment on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • sprawler47

    Mattiello lost on election night by 147 votes but he declared himself a winer.

    Two days later , he claims the absentee ballots put him over the top but the count was just 65 votes.

    The absentee ballots need to be checked to make sure proper protocol was followed...We cannot have questionable, suspiciously gotten ballots be considered legitimate. No matter how today's recount turns out, the Speaker was emasculated;he could not even get 50% of the votes in his own district. People saw through him. He had to resort to paper ballots that could be manipulated. He will never wield the power he had before the election; the Emperor has no clothes.

    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Report this