Paul Bass Photo
Barred from access to voter lists on election day, or any perch close to polling booths, independent mayoral candidate Jeffrey Kerekes has put out a call for help — to all voters in town.
Kerekes (pictured) Monday asked voters to contact a fraud hotline he has set up if they see any hanky-panky at the polls Tuesday, when he faces incumbent John DeStefano, who’s seeking a record 10th term as mayor.
New Haven’s Democratic Registrar of Voters Sharon Ferrucci has denied Kerekes the right to have unofficial checkers placed at polling stations. (Read about that here.) Those checkers monitor lists of voters to make sure that, say, dead people don’t vote, or that people don’t vote twice, or that people don’t get in without real identification. They also keep track of who voted so campaigns can decide during the day which potential voters to concentrate on pulling to the polls. DeStefano’s Democratic team has permission to station such checkers at all voting places. Since the Republican Party has no candidates for office this year, that means Democrats, and only Democrats, will be watching for fraud and obtaining crucial competitive campaign data from within the 75-foot zone from the voting booths.
“They’re not allowing us to go inside. So we’re asking citizens to be our eyes and ears,” Kerekes said at a press conference Monday afternoon outside the Hall of Records on Orange Street. “If you see something, say something.”
Five attorneys have volunteered to be on call all day to respond to complaints, Kerekes said. He declined to name them.
He asked citizens to call the hot line at 203 – 936-7505.
The polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
His campaign also prepared a booklet on “Voter Fraud & Voter Complaints.” Campaign volunteers plan to have them on hand at all city polling stations to help citizens who feel they’ve been unfairly denied a right to vote or have other complaints.
“I do not anticipate or expect problems at the polls,” Kerekes stated in the packet. “But … when you challenge entrenched power, they don’t give it up easily.”