Voter fraud is suspected in the recent NYC primary, after it was discovered that dead people allegedly cast ballots.
It was reported last week that two dead voters had somehow cast absentee ballots submitted under their names in June's still-contested Republican primary between two South Brooklyn City Council candidates, according to The New York Post.
The New York City Council District 47 race between Brooklyn Republican Chairman Richie Barsamian and George Sarantopoulos is extremely close, with Sarantopoulos leading by 16 votes as of July 28.
Both campaigns have called for investigations amid reports of ballot irregularities.
Juliet Windvan, who died in 2007, and Antoinette Garzaniti, who died over a decade ago, were found to have voted in the primary, according to NYC Board of Elections records obtained by the Post.
One of the two deceased voters would be 107 years old and the other 101, according to The New York Times.
Family members of the deceased confirmed their deaths to the Post and expressed shock and outrage that ballots were cast in their names.
Linda Smith, Garzaniti’s daughter, said, “That is amazing," adding, “I find this unbelievable. Yes, we still got ballots for her. They were ripped up and thrown out."
“So I want to know, who is doing it?" continued Smith.
The New York City Board of Elections has since referred the matter to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for investigation after multiple irregularities were uncovered.
“While any attempt to compromise the electoral process is deeply troubling, this case underscores the strength of the Board’s existing safeguards,” the BOE said in a statement posted on X.
“These irregularities were identified early, investigated thoroughly, and resolved swiftly.”
Another voter, 87-year-old William Allen, claimed to have received a “cure notice,” which voters get when their ballots contain errors like a missing signature. This was despite his not having voted in the primary.
His son, Justin Allen, told the Post that they tore up the absentee ballot when it arrived in the mail, because despite being a registered Republican, his father usually votes Democratic.
“I think it’s terrible that somebody cast a ballot in my father’s name, especially in an election that was so close, and that whoever committed fraud would have [resulted in] a fraud getting elected,” said Allen.
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The BOE also tossed out 22 potentially fraudulent ballots in favor of Barsamian, but due to a 2021 New York State election law, the absentee ballots, including those of the two deceased and Allen, were included in the totals, because there was no way to tell which of the candidates had benefited.
The problem is that envelopes with the absentee voters’ names, which are separated from the actual ballots when they were counted, were not scanned by the voting machines on election night.
Sarantopolous told the Post that the allegations were “shocking and concerning," while his election attorney, Aaron Foldenauer, called the discovery of the 22 ballots “compelling evidence of fraud.”
“This is a classic case of ballot stuffing, where one or more bad actors attempted to mix in 22 fake ballots with legitimate votes,” said Foldenauer.
Outgoing Democrat City Councilman Justin Brannan, who is currently holding the seat in Brooklyn, has called for an immediate investigation and accused Barsamian's campaign of ballot fraud.
“Dirty deeds like this only serve to erode trust in democratic institutions and the electoral process,” Brannan told the New York Times.
“Voter fraud is a serious crime, and there is every reason to believe this crime was orchestrated by the Kings County Republican Party to benefit their boss, who was on the ballot,” he continued.
The Brooklyn DA’s office has yet to comment on the status of the investigation, while a ballot recount will be held on July 29.
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