FILE PHOTO
The Election Commission unanimously decided to eliminate Eliud Alcala, after at least 24 signatures on his nomination papers were forged.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — For the first time in the city’s history, a candidate has been kicked off a local ballot.
The Election Commission unanimously decided to eliminate Eliud Alcala, who was vying to unseat longtime Ward 4 City Councilor Richard Colucci, from the ballot after evidence presented at a Monday morning hearing showed that at least 24 signatures on his nomination papers were forged.
The investigation has been referred to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
Paul Coombs, campaign manager for Alcala, said that if there is a way for them to appeal the decision, they will. He said the campaign is still thinking about their next steps and the group is going to need to consult with some outside legal help. If they wish to contest the decision, they may need to go to court, he added.
Alcala had 118 certified signatures coming into the hearing, according to Janet Rowe, city clerk and chairwoman of the commission. Ward Council candidates need 100 signatures to be on the ballot.
The alleged 24 illegitimate signatures bring him below the threshold needed to qualify to appear on the ballot.
Attorney Sam Vitali, representing Robert Tucker, a Colucci supporter who filed the complaint alleging that Alcala or someone in his campaign may have forged signatures on his nomination papers, came into the hearing with 23 affidavits from 24 people.
The people who signed the affidavits claimed that they had never written or authorized their signature to appear on the challenger’s nomination papers, Vitali said. He said he was challenging those signatures and moving to strike them.
Rowe said she also received phone calls on Monday morning from several people who told her that they did not sign the nomination papers.
Vitali said he and his client were prepared to go beyond those 24 signatures, adding that there are numerous other cases where first and last names were misspelled, along with street addresses. A common pattern, he said, was the interchange of an “s” and a “z” in the last names.
“These are all coincidences apparently,” Vitali said. “I suggest to you this isn’t a coincidence … This isn’t one signature. This isn’t my wife’s upstairs in the bathroom — can I sign her name? This is a pattern of fraud.”
Vitali said the people who have been victimized are the ones who called into the city clerk and signed the affidavits and said they haven’t signed, the voters of Ward 4, and the citizens of the city of Lynn.
Last Friday, Coombs accused Tucker of racism, saying that the complaint against Alcula was about suppressing voters and candidates of color. The same issue was raised by the Alcala camp during the hearing.
Gardy Jean-Francois, who represented Alcala at the hearing, said when people have been in office too long, they form a fraternity. Colucci is the city’s longest serving councilor. He was first elected to represent Ward 4 in 1990, defeating Albert Waldron, to succeed Tucker, the former city councilor.
Jean-Francois said any time someone of a different ethnicity is running for office, they have the whole gang running against them, alleging that he had it happen to him as well. That prompted City Solicitor Michael Barry, who also sits on the commission, to ask Jean-Francois what evidence he had to support his claim.
The selection of Jean-Francois to defend the Alcala campaign against charges of forging signatures on nominations papers appears to be a curious one.
His name was removed from the ballot for state representative in 2012 when he tried to unseat then-state Rep. Robert Fennell (D-Lynn). The State Ballot Law Commission of the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office concluded a dozen signatures were “non-genuine.”
During a break in the Commission hearing, Jean-Francois declined to take responsibility for the forgery. He said his removal from the ballot was similar to the effort to question Alcala’s nomination signatures.
“They use this tactic against anyone that challenges someone who has been in office for decades,” he said. “It’s a conspiracy and the corruption starts here in Lynn.”
Tucker addressed the racism charge, saying that it was outrageous. He said that he strongly objects to anyone inferring that his objection in any way reflects racism or an intent to stop people of color from voting or running. He said that’s exactly the opposite of what he works for and the campaigns he supports.
Of the 180 signatures filed by Alcala last month, 61 were rejected by the city’s Election Office because there was no such person at the address listed, the signatures or addresses were illegible, the signer did not live in the ward, or the person signed the papers more than once. Rowe said another signature was also eliminated, leaving Alcala with 118 coming into the hearing.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Item reporter Thomas Grillo contributed to this report.