Hey, there! Log in / Register

Campaign roundup: City voids six absentee ballots in Chinatown

The Globe reports on the "vote farming" among elderly people in Chinatown, says city elections officials just want to fix the problem without blaming anybody.

Over in East Boston, District 1 council candidate Stephen Passacantilli is appealing for votes by telling residents they live in a hellhole:

Passacantilli postcard calling East Boston a gang-infested hellhole

The Globe declares the mayoral election sleepy in part because of "scant" media attention. If only Boston had a large newspaper with a newsroom full of reporters who could cover the race ...

David Bernstein reports on Walsh's not close relationship with minority police officers, says neither candidate is buying TV time for ads.

WBUR reports on the role of economic disparity in the race for mayor. The Dig looks at race in the race.

We're not saying it's an endorsement, but it's an endorsement: The Dig also explains why it's not issuing a formal endorsement in the mayoral race, but says you should vote for Jackson.

The Boston Sun reports on the two candidates' last days of campaigning.

BNN interviews District 9 (Allston/Brighton) incumbent Councilor Mark Ciommo and challenger Brandon Bowser.

Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Irish said that the city, despite taking action to nullify the six ballots, is not investigating who may have been exerting the pressure on the Chinatown voters.

“That’s not our role to do an investigation into that type of thing,” he said. “Our role is to make sure voters are receiving the correct information and are able to vote their choice.”

Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the state’s top election official, said his office is monitoring the issue, but has not launched an investigation because it has not received any complaints from the Boston Election Department.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh said it is not his place to call for an investigation because the Election Department operates as an independent agency.

up
Voting closed 0

It's the responsibility of MA Ethics Commissioner to investigate.
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-a-complaint-with-the-ethics-commission

up
Voting closed 0

can yell at Marty Walsh to get off of his lawn all the way from New Mexico.

up
Voting closed 0

I thought it would be good news if Stephen Passacantilli moved on from his message of "I live in the North End so vote for me." However, the Eastie flyer is not exactly a promising development. Scare tactics for a scared campaign?

up
Voting closed 0

I got a (what looked like) hand-written note from SP (it was one of his campaign mailers with a "sorry I missed you" bit in Sharpie) at my residence a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was a nice touch. I can't say it vaulted him to #1 in my eyes, but it gave some serious consideration where there was previously ambivalence. Well done.

And then I got the scare tactic flyer, so at this point I'm 100% going with anyone that isn't him. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Gentrification tearing apart the fabric of Eastie scares me a lot more than some mythical MS-13 threat. A lot more hard-working and law-abiding lives are being shaken up by out-of-town developers flipping perfectly habitable properties than they will ever be by MS-13.

And East Boston being overridden by crime is one of the most ridiculously false narratives out there now. Statistically (read: factually) it's around the lowest levels since 1990, when crime was at its highest (and gangs of Italian teens were brutally attacking immigrants in the neighborhood).

up
Voting closed 0

... why, though? Why would a sharpie scrawl elevate him at all?

I've been visited by Edwards's crew more times than I can even remember, and by SP's peeps only once (to be fair, I decided very on that I was for her, and immediately cut off the one SP canvasser with "I'm supporting Lydia Edwards" so as not to waste her time or mine).

The day after the primary I got a door-hanger with a "thank you" in ballpoint pen from Lydia Edwards herself. Her campaign has no way of knowing how I really voted and I'm not sure one day is long enough for them to even know if I voted or not. So if personal hand-written messages are your bag, as goofy as I find that particular criterion, Edwards has been killing it and SP not bothering at all.

up
Voting closed 0

You must be referring to Stephen Passacantilli's "MS-13 is coming for your nana" mailer.

up
Voting closed 0

Passacantilli's brother Dan was paid $40,000. by Boston Grand Prix to lobby for them. Stephen is a crook just like Marty.

up
Voting closed 0

Thank you!

I figured it had to be something like this but honestly no longer have the energy to dig that deeply myself.

What I do know is that Edwards has personally visited multiple times, spoken with me earnestly about the issues that I wasn't so sure about, and even gave me her personal cell # in case I thought of any additional concerns, while SP is expecting Marty's money to lube his way to an unearned victory.

Dudebro doesn't even show up for the job he already has, why would I vote him into a position that has even more responsibility? I figured he just wanted a bigger pension but the Indy connection explains a few things.

up
Voting closed 0

Lock her up......

up
Voting closed 0

BEFORE the ballots go into the box, and not AFTER the election. Or is it too difficult to compare the address against a list of registered voters and note "Wait, they've already submitted their ballot."

up
Voting closed 0

I've said it in the past, my recently deceased mother got an absentee ballot mailed to my house by the Democratic party.

Did I fill it in and mail it with MY choices? Who knows? We do know voter fraud never happens and if it does, it's not enough to make any impact.

up
Voting closed 0

Parties don't mail out ballots, elections departments do (at least in Massachusetts). Was this an actual ballot or just something designed to look like one?

up
Voting closed 0

legend. I'm still afraid to get a pizza out of fear an Infowars watcher will shoot me.

up
Voting closed 0

This is what David Bernstein is implying the Passacantilli people of doing. Looks like they are filling out absentee ballot requests for everyone who lives in a particular old age home or rehab home. Maybe the real person is requesting them, maybe they're not. But what reasonable person would think that 70 absentee ballots would randomly be requested in the same day from the same address?

I have no idea why the city isn't looking at this. Same thing as Chinatown? Sounds worse.

up
Voting closed 0

Perhaps thezak is moonlighting for the party machine now.

up
Voting closed 0

paper!

up
Voting closed 0

Sounds like a good trick.

Mail semi-legit looking absentee ballots to your opponents' supporters. They fill them out, mail them in, and think they've voted.

up
Voting closed 0

The Dig looks at race in the race.

Was a good article but I was surprised that in an article about race they put two bright white people as the lead photo (one of those people being me).

up
Voting closed 0

I moved to Jeffries Point in 2011 so I'm still a newcomer to most of my neighbors. Even at that point, I'd encounter taxi drivers who were afraid to stop in front of my house after dark. (On Sumner, seriously? Where the cops patrol almost constantly because that's just the main drag to get them back to their station? OK then.)

I guess there was a drug dealer down at the Cottage St intersection briefly, and a couple of stabbings at the Maverick Sq Burger King -- but I also remember being a student in Allston and having somebody stabbed on the T two stops from my apartment. One prof's immortal wisdom: "If you're standing next to someone on the T and that person starts freaking out, don't stand next to them!" Thanks, I'll... take that to heart. Super.

But overall, it's been wonderful. It's quiet, and people can afford to have families here. The one time some boom-car parked across the street, I shot those teens a dirty look when I stepped outside to get my mail, and they volunteered to move their car. No, that's OK just, turn the bass down to a human level? And they did, and life went on, and it was a nice little moment.

Massport are lying liars who lie, and I had my wheels stolen once, but the actual neighbors are lovely. My heart goes out to the woman who was caught by a stray bullet in Eagle Hill, and I can understand the concerns of parents with kids in the local schools. But fear of MS-13 is not exactly ruling my day as a young professional woman living alone.

Just gotta live your life. I'm not involved in gangs and MS-13 doesn't come after me. I'd be happier to see them gone but I'm not dumb enough to confuse them with all my other lovely immigrant neighbors who are just trying to get through their days like everybody else.

up
Voting closed 0

Gotta love how folks who live in Jeffries Point love to brag how much they love Eastie but then they would NEVER consider to move to Eagle Hill (another part of Eastie) which has a much larger immigrant population than Jeffries Point which is gentrified to the point that they host annual Hipster Olympics. I once was showing an apartment in Eagle Hill to someone who lived in Jeffries Point for a while (about as long as you) and her main concern was "Is it safe here?" Ummmm... don't you live in Eastie????

I have lived in Eagle Hill for 9 years and while it's a great neighborhood, I agree that gang crime is something that needs to be dealt with. Edwards has not touched on that topics at all to my knowledge. At least none of the hundreds of flyers that I've received from her have any mention of this. She's pushing for universal K-1 that is already on mayor's to-do list and will happen with or without her involvement and affordable housing that she can do more about in her current role in the Department of Housing Stability that she's been neglecting since she started campaigning.

up
Voting closed 0