Court Challenge Charges Gross Irregularities and Reports of Bribery in Harlem Election

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 29, 2024) - SMART Elections and its Co-founder and Executive Director, Lulu Friesdat, are lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday, October 17th, against the New York City Board of Elections (NYCBOE). The legal action depicts gross irregularities in the handling of voting equipment and ballots, reports of bribery, a lack of notification to some voters, and rampant illegal electioneering in the June 2024 New York Democratic Primary Election in Assembly District 70. The election included a highly competitive race for an open seat in the New York Assembly, representing Harlem and parts of the Upper West Side. These findings raise serious concerns about the legitimacy of the election and the certified results. The lawsuit calls for a new supervised special election.

Key Findings:

An Untracked Voting Machine and More Ballots Than Voters

The concerns cited in the lawsuit began at PS 175, a busy Early Voting polling place in Central Harlem, responsible for roughly 15% of the district's ballots. A voting machine broke down on the second day of Early Voting at this location and was replaced with not one, but two voting machines. One of the machines was "off-grid" and untracked, and remained at the location for eight days of early voting. Ms. Friesdat was at the location conducting nonpartisan election observation as part of a SMART Elections program. During the observation, she discovered the extra voting machine, as well as finding more ballots than voters who checked in. An audit later uncovered a mislabeled ballot bag with zero votes for the 2nd place candidate Maria Ordonez, and chain of custody issues that experts categorize as serious. Election security expert Douglas W. Jones, an Emeritus Professor from the University of Iowa, filed an affidavit in the case saying, "If I voted in New York's Assembly District 70, I would demand a re-vote... and I would demand an investigation."

Illegal Electioneering and Bribery

The suit includes exhibits with photographs of illegal electioneering by the campaigns of Jordan and Keith Wright, who were both on the ballot. Jordan Wright, the declared winner of the New York Assembly race, is the son of Manhattan Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright, who was also on the ballot, running as a 70th Assembly District Delegate to the Judicial Convention. One exhibit describes a poll worker alleging she took cash "in her back pocket" to influence voters in favor of Jordan Wright. Voters report being directed by poll workers to vote for Jordan and Keith Wright. All of these actions violate New York Election Law.

Missing Seals and a Refusal by the NYCBOE to Produce Logs of Seals

66.6% of the Election Day ballot boxes in the 70th Assembly District that were audited were missing seals. Additionally, the NYCBOE refused to provide chain of custody logs showing that existing seals on the ballot bags were the correct, original seals. Experts say the complete absence of chain of custody documents combined with widespread irregularities means that the 8,871 ballots cast in the election are not reliable. Professor Jones describes the NYCBOE chain of custody as "weak," asking, "How do you know you're auditing the ballots that were voted? You don't."

Statistical Anomalies

A statistical analysis by Dr. Debra Wetcher-Hendricks of Moravian University identified irregular voting patterns at PS 175. Jordan Wright, the declared winner of the New York Assembly race, received 54% of the early votes but dropped to 39% on Election Day at the same location-a change that Dr. Wetcher-Hendrick's analysis concludes has a less than.1% chance of occurring randomly. The lawsuit raises the possibility that the large increase in votes for Wright during Early Voting at that location is due to a combination of illegal electioneering and potential ballot substitution from the untracked voting machine that was at the site for most of Early Voting.

Request for Action

Plaintiffs conclude, "The fairest action for voters and candidates alike is to hold a new special election unmarred by illegal electioneering, possible errors, and fraud." The lawsuit demands that a new election be held under court supervision with improved security measures to ensure the results are accurate and trustworthy. The suit asks that a court-appointed monitor develop, implement and oversee mandatory best practices for the New York City Board of Elections, an organization that has been criticized for incompetence and cronyism for years.

Why This Matters

Jordan Wright's win consolidates the power base of the Wright family, which also recently assisted in the successful election of a New York City Council Member. As the chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party, Keith Wright is influential in appointing staff at the NYCBOE and even judges to the Supreme Court. The lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of the election results in the 70th Assembly District and raises concerns about the consolidation of power using unfair and undemocratic means.

About SMART Elections

SMART Elections is an innovative, nonpartisan project, improving U.S. elections by ensuring they are secure, accurate, accessible, inclusive, well-administered, and publicly verifiable.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/225675