Openness and transparency should be a hallmark of this process.
On April 28, 2012, the Massachusetts GOP held a caucus in Framingham for the 5th Congressional District in order to elect delegates to the national convention.
194 people were registered to vote in the caucus.
Unofficial incomplete vote results:
Andrew Prout (Liberty): 102
Francesco Capone (Liberty): 100
Michael Morales (Liberty): 99
Nicholas Sanchez (Official Romney): 54
Ed McGrath (Official Romney): 52
Dan Haley (Official Romney): 49
Sean Harrington: 27
Mark Crowley: 18
Alternate Delegate Candidates:
Susan Starin Mojica (Liberty): 91
Jonathan A. Mitchell (Liberty): 88
Alexandra Helyar (Liberty): 87
Five days later, state committeewoman Janet Leombruno, who lost her bid for alternate delegate at the caucus, filed a challenge with the Mass GOP claiming the caucus registration was so poorly administered that all of the results should be thrown out. Ms. Leombruno argued that because caucus attendees did not "sign statements including their names, addresses, and Republican affiliation" as stated in the rules, it is therefore "entirely possible that individuals not qualified to participate in the Caucus, in fact, cast votes in the Caucus elections."
Although the specific step of signing statements was not followed by caucus organizers, each caucus attendee was required to give his or her name and address which was checked against voter registration records to confirm their eligibility to participate (the same process used to vote in the primary).
Among the people who were registered through this process was Mass GOP By-Laws Chair Ed McGrath, who is the chairman of the committee that will decide the outcome of this challenge. He of all people should have known if the registration process was so faulty that the entire caucus should be thrown out. He ran for delegate that day and lost.
At no time during the caucus proceedings did anyone make an objection to how the registration process was handled - not the By-Laws Chair Ed Mcgrath, and not any of the other committee members who were seeking to be elected as delegates.
To this day, no one has attempted to offer any actual evidence of unqualified participants voting in the caucus, let alone the 45 people needed to change the outcome. The challenge is merely based on the theoretical possibility that fraud could have occurred.
Furthermore, if there is a genuine concern that the process was subverted, it is easy to verify by looking up the names of voters who registered, contacting them, and asking them if they attended the caucus.
Summary:
Ms. Leombruno, a Republican state committeeman, was chosen by the Romney campaign to be listed on a delegate/alternate slate. She lost (she was not even present for the vote). She then filed a complaint with the Mass GOP saying it didn't follow its own rules and violated state law. The person in charge of the committee that will make a decision on the complaint, Ed McGrath, also lost his bid for delegate that day. None of these people objected to how they were registered during the caucus.
Now she is requesting that the committee throw out the caucus results and appoint whomever it sees fit. This, in spite of the fact that there is no actual evidence any unqualified voters participated, let alone the dozens needed to change the outcome.
|
