Tyer Gains Two Votes, Mazzeo Could Continue with Legal Action
A day-long recount of the November 5 mayoral election has handed incumbent Mayor Linda Tyer two more votes than originally tallied, raising her winning margin over Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo from 529 votes to 531.
While the completion of the recount has Mayor Tyer saying the process is complete, there are reports that Councilor Mazzeo will continue to move forward with legal action against the city, citing irregularities in the voting and ballots. Josh Landes, from WAMC, reported the following on social media:
The Mazzeo team is challenging every absentee ballot that voted for Tyer as a means to collect them for a possible legal case against the city. She said she is acting on the advice of her legal team, and that she never expected the recount to overturn the election results themselves. She also told me she is questioning the validity of the election, and identified Tyer's husband and former city councilor Barry Clairmont as being the individual in the registrar of voters on election day.
According to iBerkshires.com, Andrew Hochberg, the attorney hired by Councilor Mazzeo, said the decision to appeal the election and move forward with legal action would be made over the next several days. He said Mazzeo's team of observers had been there since 7:30 a.m. to observe the transfer of the ballots from the registrar's office to the City Council Chambers upstairs, and to ensure they were handled properly.
Hochberg continued to say there were a number of irregularities in the ballots, pointing to how the clear plastic bins holding the ballots from each precinct were secured. He said the written protest he filed with the city challenges the three ballot transfer boxes and the transfer bags of the unvoted ballots because of the lack of security.
These boxes have to be kept under lock and seal so if they're under lock and seal, they're sealed on both sides. So there were three boxes from the precincts that had questionable seals, either broken missing or another issue.
Andrew Hochberg, Attorney for Councilor Mazzeo,via iBerkshires.com
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