Galvin to oversee November election in wake of voter fraud
Date: 9/25/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW — Brain McNiff, spokesperson for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, confirmed to
Reminder Publications that state officials would oversee upcoming election proceedings in East Longmeadow as they did for its Sept. 6 primary.
"That is going to continue through the November election," McNiff said, stating that he had no further information at that time.
East Longmeadow Town Clerk Thomas Florence said that he did not have any further details, as he had not yet discussed specifics with Galvin's office regarding the Nov. 6 election as of press time, but he also stated that he was not surprised.
"Obviously they said that it would be a possibility," he said. "If they feel the need to be there to ensure the integrity of the election, we are happy to continue working with them to do so."
Galvin's initial decision to oversee the primary election resulted from an investigation by his office into reports of hundreds of absentee ballots requested on the behalf of unsuspecting residents and the unauthorized change of registered Democrats' political affiliation to unenrolled in advance of the Republican House of Representatives primary between Marie Angelides and Jack Villamaino.
Angelides won the primary by a landslide as Villamaino disappeared from public life. She'll attempt to unseat Democratic incumbent State Rep. Brian Ashe in the Second Hampden District in November.
Florence reiterated his good working relationship with Galvin's office and recalled that the involvement of a state official and a local clerk from another town at the primary election was well received. Twenty percent of the voting population went to the polls that day.
"We did have a good primary election and worked well with everyone involved and I expect the same this time around as well," he said.
