PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Board of Elections on Tuesday voted 5-2 to review all of the signatures on the nomination papers filed by the campaign of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, moving beyond the scope of the more than a dozen or so that have already been called into question.
The motion was made by board member Randall Jackvony. A second motion made by member Louise Desimone Jr. to issue subpoenas to campaign staffers to testify before the board was unsuccessful.
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“A criminal investigation can take months,” said Desimone “We are talking about a criminal standard. And I think our burden goes beyond [that]. It seems pretty obvious [there were improprieties] based on the facts that have come out.”
R.I. Board of Elections Chairwoman Dian Mederos, who along with board member David Sholes voted against the motion to scrutinize all of the signatures, arguing the board is not equipped to conduct investigations into alleged fraud, and cited the two-day window spelled out in state statute allowing for an official challenge that has since passed.
Sholes defended his opposition by saying that signatures collected and then determined to be invalid are a regular part of the process. Hundreds of signatures submitted by Matos’ campaign, he continued, were subsequently thrown out for not meeting the standards.
He believes that Matos made the signature threshold regardless of the number of invalid signatures.
“Is that tantamount to widespread fraud?” he asked. “I say let [law enforcement agencies] do their job. Right now, we have an election to run.”
Though there are 15 candidates who qualified for the ballot, the controversy surrounding the submission of the required 500 or more signatures to qualify for the ballot has taken center stage in the contest to replace former U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, who resigned from congress in June to head the nonprofit Rhode Island Foundation.
Many of the nomination signatures submitted on behalf of Matos are alleged to include the names of deceased individuals, people who claimed afterwards they had not signed the papers, and in one instance, the entire East Providence City Council.
BOA staff attorney Raymond A. Marcaccio said the board has broad contempt powers to pressure people to appear. But he cautioned against what he characterized as doubling efforts between the state’s election managers and law enforcement agencies.
The board had previously referred the matter to the office of R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, and along with the R.I. State Police have opened inquiries into signature irregularities alleged by local boards of canvassers.
During the meeting, BOE Director Robert Rapoza said he had reached out to an investigator with the state police assigned to the review but had not heard back.
Neronha spokesperson Brian Hodge said Tuesday said the office “will not be involved in signature verification for the purpose of whether an individual should appear on a ballot.”
“That is a role for local boards of canvassers and the board of elections,” he said, adding the office “is examining the full scope of any alleged misconduct [regarding signatures].”
Hodge declined to give a timeline for the investigation, which involves both state and local law enforcement agencies.
Matos said during a July 21 press conference that it was not her campaign that was being investigated, but rather an outside vendor it hired, Harmony Solutions, who she claimed was the target of the criminal inquiry.
The special primary will be held on Sept. 5. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Congressional candidate Don Carlson, who was the only candidate to issue an official challenge to Matos’ nomination papers, on Tuesday issued a statement praising the inquiry.
“This outcome was exactly the remedy we requested,” he said. “The secret backroom meetings advocated by BOE’s legal counsel did serious damage to the public’s confidence in our elections.”
(Update: Story recast with results from 2 p.m. meeting)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
