Mayor
Fung’s Remarks on Voting Irregularities in Cranston
Over the course of the past year, much has been made at every level
– local, state, and national – about ensuring the sanctity of our
elections. There are rules – strict
rules – on who can cast a vote. By and
large we take it for granted that our elections are clean and fair, but we must
be ever vigilant in protecting the system.
When the system is taken advantage of, we must confront it head on. And this is what we are doing here today.
Over the course of the past few weeks, as a result of our normal
post-election reconciliation of the ballot applications and the due diligence
of our canvassing employees, several instances of voting irregularities have
been identified from the 2016 elections in Cranston. Let me be clear right from the start that
absolutely none of these cases occurred in the District 15 state representative
race.
The irregularities range from:
1.
two
cases of suspected non-citizens being registered and actually voting in our
city;
2.
two
incidents of residents who allegedly voted by emergency ballot at city hall
prior to election day and also in person at their normal location on November
8th;
3.
two
residents who allegedly voted with a regular ballot at their polling location
and then voted at city hall that same day for the President/Vice-President
only;
4.
one
person allegedly voting in both the April Presidential Primary and November
General Election in Cranston and in Providence as well;
5.
one
Cranston resident whose identity was allegedly used to be registered and a vote
cast in a prior election in Providence without their knowledge or consent.
These are all ongoing investigations by the Cranston Police
Department that will be referred to the Attorney General’s office for review
for potential charges.
I want to thank the city’s new registrar, Nicholas Lima, the
employees of the canvassing department and the Board of Canvassers for their
due diligence in bringing these serious matters to the attention of the
Cranston Police Department. I cannot
thank the Cranston Police Department enough, and especially Det. Lee Sohn, for
their comprehensive and thorough investigation of these irregularities.
Given that these are ongoing investigations, we must be very
careful what we say here today. However,
for now, let me breakdown some of the major areas of concern that I see:
-
In
light of loosening of the state election laws, the emergency ballot systems are
now being exploited.
-
We
have identified two cases of suspected non US Citizens being registered to vote
and casting votes.
-
A
separate case might actually not be a crime on their behalf at all, but one of
stolen identity which will need to be addressed by the Board of Canvassers in
Providence for further investigation.
-
And
better training of the poll workers must be organized by the state Board of
Elections and/or RI Secretary of State’s Office.
While these irregularities are being investigated and handled by
the Cranston Police Department with the assistance of the Attorney General’s
office, we need to not only hold people accountable, but fix these loopholes
and prevent this from happening again.
In light of what we have found, I am calling for the following:
1.
The
emergency ballot process as a whole should be addressed as it is being taken
advantage of by some in what is loosely being called “early voting.” We absolutely must require Photo ID when
citizens come to City Hall and fill out and vote with an in-person emergency
ballot. The original intent of the
emergency ballot was to allow those who had medical emergencies, or those who
were sent out of state for work unexpectedly, or the similar like, a backup
system to cast their vote. Emergencies
happen, but the way the system is set up currently, there is no standard of
proof for such, and some people were taking heavy advantage of that fact.
2.
We
must incorporate real-time technology, such as the e-poll book piloted this
year at some polls statewide, for all ballots cast. This would allow for instantaneous detection
of double voting attempts, versus an after the fact reconciliation.
3.
For
those first time individuals coming in on election day to vote for
President/Vice President only, there needs to be a system to check to see if
these residents are already registered or not.
4.
The
Secretary of State’s office needs to develop a system to prevent non-citizens
from registering to vote, catching this act of perjury out front. Secretary Gorbea absolutely must tighten up
this process as the current system of using a Driver’s License or ID number
appears to be inadequate.
5.
Finally,
the Board of Elections must step up its training efforts for poll workers. While these thoughtful residents of our
community step up for each election, and we cannot thank them enough for their
time and efforts, it appears as though there were areas that weren’t emphasized
enough in the trainings, like the use of provisional ballots.
I will be reaching out in the next few days to Secretary Gorbea to
share our findings in regards to what could be done better for the next
election. And with that, I am happy to
take your questions.
