Last month, after successfully fending off a challenge to Ralph Hernandez' Buffalo School Board nominating petition, I filed a Freedom of Information Law request to see the Erie County Board of Election's logs of people who had examined such petitions and those who had requested copies. A person named Eric Tolbert (nephew of candidate Bernie Tolbert?) had previously filed Specific Objections to the Hernandez petition, claiming, in exquisite detail, that 1,336 signatures were bad. Ralph's petition contains 98 pages and some sample pages are displayed below......
The complete Hernandez petition contains 1,893 signatures, with 1000 required to qualify for a spot on the ballot. The Tolbert Specific Objections detail, line by line, what is alleged to be defective about the signatures on Ralph's petition.....
If the Board of Elections (Commissioners Ralph Mohr and Dennis Ward) had upheld the Tolbert objections, Ralph would have been out of the race unless a judge put him back in. This is all part of the Kabuki Dance which characterizes New York's election laws, advantaging political machines and those in power while disenfranchising independent outsider challenges. It's the same game that Congressman Higgins is currently playing with challenger Eddie Egriu. Attack the newcomer's petition and keep his campaign off balance as long as possible. If the candidates cannot guarantee they will be on the ballot, they cannot raise money or begin the expensive media portion of their campaign. Well healed and incumbent candidates frequently use these techniques.
In order to propound voluminous specific objections, one obviously needs to have access to the petition being challenged and voter records, both of which are maintained and housed by the Board of Elections. The Board has procedures for examining petitions and voter records, including logging in whoever views petitions and voter records or requests document copies. The logs of those who viewed petitions and voter records from April 1 though April 21 follow:
In order to propound voluminous specific objections, one obviously needs to have access to the petition being challenged and voter records, both of which are maintained and housed by the Board of Elections. The Board has procedures for examining petitions and voter records, including logging in whoever views petitions and voter records or requests document copies. The logs of those who viewed petitions and voter records from April 1 though April 21 follow:
Dave Pfaff, Amy Friedman and Bill Nowakowski are supporting the Quinn/Pierce effort and they didn't challenge Hernandez. Steve Buccilli is an independent newcomer who didn't challenge anyone. Willie Morris is with Grass Roots, an organization opposed to the Unity Coalition which supports Tolbert. Tim LoVallo and I are the Hernandez legal defense team who refuted the Tolbert objections. So Eric Tolbert proffered his extensive and detailed objections without looking at Ralph's petition or the related voter records?!! Maybe he had a copy of Ralph's petition? No, not according to the log of copies requested....
Pfaff did make a copy of the Hernandez petition and he subsequently used it when I contracted with him as a paralegal to examine the Tolbert objections and help refute them. Ohhh.... By now it should be obvious that it is impossible for anyone to accomplish what Objector Tolbert did without a great deal of access to the Hernandez petition and the necessary voter records in the possession of the Board of Elections. So how did he perform this impossible task? Does he have x-ray vision which allows him to see through walls? How about a drone that allows him to access Board records without their knowledge? Maybe divine or alien superbeing intervention?
Maybe there is a more likely explanation. Perhaps the head of the Unity Coalition and Deputy Democratic Elections Commissioner, Champ Eve, had Board staff formulate the objections on government time, using public resources. Using public resources for private political purposes? Never. That would be wrong! Wonder if District Attorney Sedita is still being overzealous in his prosecution of public officials? Stay tuned for more.
Maybe there is a more likely explanation. Perhaps the head of the Unity Coalition and Deputy Democratic Elections Commissioner, Champ Eve, had Board staff formulate the objections on government time, using public resources. Using public resources for private political purposes? Never. That would be wrong! Wonder if District Attorney Sedita is still being overzealous in his prosecution of public officials? Stay tuned for more.
