35,000 DEAD ON VOTING LIST IN
PROVIDENCE? NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN
REMOVED AFTER TWO CONSECUTIVE
FEDERAL ELECTIONS, THIS IS A CLEAR
VIOLATION OF FEDERAL ELECTION LAW.
|
35,000 DEAD ON VOTING LIST IN
PROVIDENCE?
People: McKenna, Keven A
Author(s): KAREN A. DAVIS Journal Staff Writer
Section: Business
Publication title: Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Aug 24, 2002. pg. B.04
Abstract (Document Summary)
Democratic mayoral candidate Keven A. McKenna had sought to have the names
removed, in an appeal of last week's decision by the Board of Canvassers to keep
the voting list intact. The state board listened to McKenna's arguments at a hearing
yesterday morning.
The board also denied McKenna's request to disqualify thousands of voters whose
mailed voter notification cards were returned to the canvassers marked undeliverable
or addressee unknown.
What they're doing is better than nothing," McKenna said, after the hearing. The
future of Providence should be determined by voters who actually live in Providence,
not be deceased voters, and voters voting twice under different names."
Full Text (687 words)
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Aug 24, 2002
* Removing the names of deceased city residents from a list of eligible voters is
among the tasks now facing the Providence Board of Canvassers.
* * *
PROVIDENCE - The state Board of Elections yesterday agreed that the
Providence Board of Canvassers has been negligent in its duty to clean up"
its list of registered voters, but denied a mayoral candidate's request to
purge as many as 35,000 people from the primary election rosters.
Democratic mayoral candidate Keven A. McKenna had sought to have the names
removed, in an appeal of last week's decision by the Board of Canvassers to keep
the voting list intact. The state board listened to McKenna's arguments at a hearing
yesterday morning.
McKenna has alleged that the city voting roster is flawed: it lists some voters twice,
retains the names of people who have died or moved out of state and includes
people who fraudulently claim to live at a city address. He presented the board with
a list of more than 100 registered voters who would have to be more than 100 years
old, or deceased.
McKenna took up the issue of the voting roster after sending campaign mailings to
residents at three public housing high-rises and having 302 of the mailings returned by
the postal service, stamped addressee unknown."
We all truly believe that Mr. McKenna has taken the high-ground on this issue," state
board chairman Roger Begin said at the end of the three-hour hearing. We believe
the Board of Canvassers in Providence has been negligent."
McKenna came to the state board with several requests, including removing the
names of deceased voters.
That request was granted; the board ordered the canvassers to immediately contact
the city and state keepers of vital statistics to get the names of residents who have
died from January 1990 to Aug. 15 of this year. City officials must compare those
names with its voting records and immediately expunge the names of the deceased.
McKenna's requests to remove the names of people he believes do not live in
Providence and eliminate duplications created by people who are listed under
married and maiden names were denied.
Robert Fontaine, executive director of the state board, said federal law is clear:
voters cannot be removed from municipal voting lists within 90 days of an election
unless they make the request in person or in writing to have their names taken off.
Armed with federal law and state statutes, the five-person state board did, however,
fire a shot of disapproval at the way the city has kept its voting list.
It ordered the canvassers to after the Nov. 5 general election initiate a citywide
mailing to verify the status of the city's voting list. If a voter is found ineligible to
remain on the list, the canvassers must wait for the passing of two federal elections
before they can label such voters inactive."
The board also denied McKenna's request to disqualify thousands of voters whose
mailed voter notification cards were returned to the canvassers marked undeliverable
or addressee unknown.
Laurence K. Flynn, executive secretary of the Board of Canvassers, has said that a
computer miscue left out apartment numbers or other errors that caused between
23,000 and 27,000 of the cards to be returned to the board.
McKenna has charged that the seven boxes of returned cards number closer
to 35,000 and were returned primarily due to voter fraud or because voters
no longer live at their registered addresses.
State officials were insistent that the city has a duty to correct the computer problems
and notify those voters; they also took issue with the fact that city canvassers were a
month late in mailing out the notification cards, as the state required following
legislative redistricting.
The board ordered the canvassers to resend the cards by Friday. Asst. City Solicitor
Raymond Dettore said canvassing officials will begin mailing the cards on Tuesday.
What they're doing is better than nothing," McKenna said, after the hearing. The
future of Providence should be determined by voters who actually live in Providence,
not be deceased voters, and voters voting twice under different names."
People: McKenna, Keven A, Flynn, Laurence K
Author(s): KAREN A. DAVIS Journal Staff Writer
Section: News
Publication title: Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Aug 16, 2002. pg. B.01
Source type: Newspaper
ProQuest document ID: 150202661
Text Word Count 733
Document URL:
http://0-proquest.umi.com.helin.uri.edu:80/pqdweb?did=150202661&sid=5&Fmt=3
&clientId=16240&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Abstract (Document Summary)
PROVIDENCE - The city Board of Canvassers voted yesterday to send certified
letters to 302 would-be voters, agreeing that Democratic mayoral candidate [Keven
A. McKenna] had reasonable cause to suspect those voters no longer live at their
registered voting addresses.
The board voted to deny McKenna's request that they disqualify between 20,000
and 40,000 voters whose voting place notification cards were returned to the city as
undeliverable or "addressee unknown."
Board member Mark Lomazzo who cast the dissenting vote in the 2- to-1 decision
to deny McKenna's request said he agreed with McKenna's claim about the
prevalence of out-of-town voters.
Full Text (733 words)
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Aug 16, 2002
* The Providence Board of Canvassers agrees to look at 302 discrepancies, but
denies a bid by mayoral candidate Keven A. McKenna to disqualify thousands of
registered voters.
* * *
PROVIDENCE - The city Board of Canvassers voted yesterday to send certified
letters to 302 would-be voters, agreeing that Democratic mayoral candidate Keven
A. McKenna had reasonable cause to suspect those voters no longer live at their
registered voting addresses.
The three-person board also voted to look into McKenna's claim that five people on
the voting list have died and should be purged from the rolls.
However, the board voted to deny McKenna's request that they disqualify between
20,000 and 40,000 voters whose voting place notification cards were returned to the
city as undeliverable or "addressee unknown."
Laurence K. Flynn, chairman of the canvassing board, said a glitch in the computer
system caused mistakes to be made in the mailing of the notices. In most cases, the
city's computer division erroneously mailed the notification cards to street addresses,
as opposed to mailing addresses, Flynn said. In other cases, an apartment number
was left off the address, causing the card to come back as undeliverable.
Flynn said the board plans to resend at least 20,000 voter place notification cards
before the Sept. 10 primary. But, he said, that project is on hold by order of the city
finance director, who wants to get the city tax bills printed first, Flynn said.
McKenna alleges that those would-be voters who he estimates number
closer to 40,000 do not live in the city and are fraudulently qualified to
participate in the Democratic primary election, an election that could
determine the city's next mayor.
McKenna said he will meet the 48-hour deadline in which he has to decide whether
to appeal the decision to the state Board of Elections.
"I find it outrageous that the city does not provide the resources to keep the voting
lists up to date," McKenna said. As a result, "people who do not live in the city could
be voting to determine the next mayor of the city of Providence," he said.
McKenna said he believes many city employees who live in Narragansett or
elsewhere are among those seeking to fraudulently cast votes.
Board member Mark Lomazzo who cast the dissenting vote in the 2- to-1 decision
to deny McKenna's request said he agreed with McKenna's claim about the
prevalence of out-of-town voters.
He said he personally knows of three out-of-town residents who registered to vote in
the city and used relatives' addresses to do so.
"What we do . . . it's a joke," Lomazzo said.
And, yet, board member George T. Smith Jr. acknowledged mistakes not fraud
caused many notification cards to be improperly addressed.
"You can't take away their right to vote because of our misinformation," Smith said.
McKenna first took on the the accuracy of the city voting roster in June after mailing
campaign literature to residents of three high- rise apartments and having 302 of his
mailings returned and marked "addressee unknown."
Yesterday, McKenna told the board, he has since talked with Providence Housing
Authority executive director Stephen O'Rourke, who checked his tenant list and
confirmed that none of the 302 people live in the elderly high-rises.
While Flynn insisted that the 20,000 or more returned notification cards do not signal
massive voter fraud, McKenna tried to show that the system has multiple flaws.
As an example, he brought up the matter of a woman who is listed on the voting list
twice once under her married name and once under her maiden name at two different
Cumberland Street addresses.
Flynn questioned how the board would know about changes in names or addresses,
unless notified by residents.
Calling it the "most sacred document in a democracy," McKenna said he believes the
board and the city have a duty to actively find out whether voters have died, moved
or changed their names due to marriage.
McKenna said canvassing board computers should be connected with those in the
state Department of Vital Statistics and city Probate Court, to better track deaths
and marriages.
City election officials have said federal law prevents them from acting on the people
who they suspect no longer live at their registered addresses. But, McKenna told the
board that the rules are different for primary races, which are not bound by the laws
that apply to general elections.
People: McKenna, Keven A, Flynn, Laurence K
Author(s): KAREN A. DAVIS Journal Staff Writer
Section: News
Publication title: Providence Journal. Providence, R.I.: Jun 19, 2002. pg. C.02
Source type: Newspaper
ProQuest document ID: 127028061
Text Word Count 524
Document URL:
http://0-proquest.umi.com.helin.uri.edu:80/pqdweb?did=127028061&sid=6&Fmt=3
&clientId=16240&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Abstract (Document Summary)
PROVIDENCE - Mayoral candidate [Keven A. McKenna] has asked the Board of
Canvassers to purge the city voting roster of citizens who vote from addresses at
which they do not live.
"Hopefully, that astounding percentage of wrong addresses is not indicative of the
entire voting list of the City of Providence," McKenna wrote in a June 16 letter to the
city board, secretary of state's office and state Board of Elections. "However, I
would hope that number would inspire your agencies to do their job and clean up the
Providence voting rolls."
In his letter, McKenna asked the agencies to "restore integrity" to the voting system
by doing a return mail purge of voter rolls; instituting a timely system of removing
felons from the rolls, and developing an automatic electronic purging system that
matches voting addresses with the city tax division and School Department, car
registrations, the state Division of Taxation and the U.S. Postal Service.
Full Text (524 words)
Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Jun 19, 2002
* Mayoral candidate Keven A. McKenna challenges the addresses of 302 voters,
after mailings were returned "address unknown."
* * *
PROVIDENCE - Mayoral candidate Keven A. McKenna has asked the Board of
Canvassers to purge the city voting roster of citizens who vote from addresses at
which they do not live.
Noting that 56 percent of his mailings to registered voters at four city high-rises have
been returned to him, McKenna is challenging the addresses of 302 voters.
McKenna who got a list of 96,124 registered voters from the Board of
Canvassers said he became concerned about the accuracy of the voting
roster after his mailings came back to him stamped "address unknown."
"Hopefully, that astounding percentage of wrong addresses is not indicative of the
entire voting list of the City of Providence," McKenna wrote in a June 16 letter to the
city board, secretary of state's office and state Board of Elections. "However, I
would hope that number would inspire your agencies to do their job and clean up the
Providence voting rolls."
Laurence K. Flynn, chairman of the Board of Canvassers, said anyone who
challenges the veracity of a voter's address must identify the voter and show
reasonable cause to prove that the person does not live there. Flynn said a hearing is
scheduled to allow a complainant to make his or her case and allow the challenged
voter to respond.
Following that procedure, Flynn said, the board will "take a look at" McKenna's
complaint.
However, Flynn said "you can't put a blanket challenge in on a bunch of registered
voters [and] I believe that's what he's doing here."
In his letter, McKenna asked the agencies to "restore integrity" to the
voting system by doing a return mail purge of voter rolls; instituting a timely
system of removing felons from the rolls, and developing an automatic
electronic purging system that matches voting addresses with the city tax
division and School Department, car registrations, the state Division of
Taxation and the U.S. Postal Service.
Flynn said addresses are automatically matched with state and federal agencies every
four years. And his office periodically updates voter records, including routinely
getting notification from the state vital statistics division when someone dies.
Still, Flynn said, he is not surprised that candidates have mail returned to them.
"We live in a transient city," said Flynn, who has been with the board for 19 years.
"People move around in the city. . That's how it's always been."
McKenna implied that he is skeptical of the suggestion that a transient population is
the reason for wrong addresses. In his letter, he suggested that a flawed system
or corruption by public employees could be a more plausible reason for
discrepancies.
While such discrepancies might not make much difference in statewide races,
McKenna believes that they are very important in city races, where victory margins
have historically been slim.
"The electoral future of Providence should not be determined by strangers,"
McKenna said in a statement. "The voting roll is the most sacred document in a
democracy. Its integrity should not be allowed to be compromised by
bureaucratic incompetence or by voter fraud."
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