Galvin's office seizes control of East Longmeadow election

Date: 8/15/2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has announced that his office will take over all administrative activities relating to the upcoming Sept. 6 primary election in East Longmeadow.

Galvin spoke with Reminder Publications following his formal announcement while touring the Caring Health Center on Main Street in Springfield, stating that in the interest of protecting the integrity of the elections, he will appoint a representative from his office to oversee the primary elections, which are set to take place in less than three weeks, and possibly the general election in November.

Galvin's announcement is a direct result of an investigation by his office into reports of hundreds of absentee ballots requested on the behalf of unsuspecting residents, many of whom were registered Democrats, for the Sept. 6 Republican primary between Marie Angelides and Jack Villamaino for the chance to unseat State Rep. Brian Ashe in the Second Hampden District.

"Given the irregularities we have found, I have decided to take control of the election. I will be appointing someone to run the election on Sept. 6 and probably on Nov. 6 as well," he said. "This person's job will include overseeing all of the prep work being done to ensure that party enrollments are accurate, that absentee ballots go to those who indeed requested them and overseeing Election Day operations."

Galvin stressed that this action is not a result of any criminal investigation that is currently being conducted by Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni's office.

"The announcement today is not related to the criminal issue," he said. "With this we are making sure when people want to vote, they may do so and that their rights are protected."

However, he added, he felt there was evidence of illegal activity, which he turned over to Mastroianni's office.

"I can't comment on [Mastroianni's] office's investigation, but I have great confidence in him," he said.

For more on this developing story, read the Aug. 20 issue of The Reminder.