Confusion in Cranston

Provisional ballots are wrongly fed into machines, and there is confusion over where to vote.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

BY CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY
Providence Journal Staff Writer

Cranston election officials hired extra police officers for yesterday's contentious mayoral primary because they expected problems outside the polls.

The problems, however, were inside.

A multitude of irregularities surfaced in Cranston yesterday: election workers mistakenly fed at least 90 "provisional" ballots into voting machines; registered voters were bounced around to several voting locations because poll workers misread the voting list; and a Cranston firefighter was arrested at a polling location for smoking marijuana in the school's bathroom.

With his face flushed, Kenneth McGunagle, the chairman of Cranston's Board of Canvassers, ran his hands through his hair and hopped from one phone to another as he answered questions from reporters, citizens, city lawyers and state election officials at City Hall last night.

McGunagle called the new provisional ballots "a disaster."

The ballots, which were used throughout Rhode Island for the first time yesterday, were mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act. Residents who encountered voting problems at a polling place and would otherwise be turned away could demand a provisional ballot. The ballots were supposed to be sealed and set aside in a red bag so election officials could research the individual's claim and decide whether to count the vote.

About 90 provisional ballots were mistakenly fed into the ballot machines and counted yesterday, McGunagle said. The figure was estimated after a city lawyer interviewed election workers at half the polling locations and determined that 45 provisional ballots were processed. Election officials doubled the number to approximate how many ballots were accidentally counted citywide, he said.

When city election officials realized what was happening, McGunagle said he and the other two members of the Board of Canvassers sprinted through the city telling poll workers not to put the provisional ballots into the machines. Three police cruisers ferried the board members to more than 50 locations in about an hour, McGunagle said.

In all, about 1,000 provisional ballots were cast, he said. The state Board of Elections said the only reports of problems with the provisional ballots came from Cranston.

"The poll workers received training, but not enough," McGunagle said.

The problems were compounded in Cranston where many Democrats and independents wanted to change their party affiliation to vote in the Republican primary between Mayor Stephen P. Laffey and challenger Garry Reilly.

A frustrated couple walked away from the Woodridge School poll without voting. They had wanted to vote for Mayor Laffey, but the voter list had them registered as Democrats.

Anthony and Helene Santurri swore they both had filled out the proper disaffiliation papers after the last election.

"Every time I vote, I disaffiliate myself," said Anthony Santurri. The couple didn't bother to cast a provisional ballot.

"If these allegations are true, then it's clear that the [state] Board of Elections did not properly train the poll workers," said Secretary of State Matthew A. Brown. "This problem has got to be fixed so in future elections we do not have people disenfranchised."

The Board of Elections announced that if any Cranston race has less than a 100-vote margin, a special election may be called.

A significant number of Cranston voters were also bounced from one poll to another because poll workers misread a voting list. Ed Aberger of Bryant Road, for example, went from Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, to Budlong Avenue, to City Hall to Waterman School.

McGunagle said the confusion was caused by poll workers who misread the new voting list. The issue was discovered in the afternoon and poll workers were instructed to use another list.

Cranston officials had braced for problems between sign-carrying protesters outside the polling places, but the tension played out inside. Both mayoral candidates sent two observers to each polling location to observe the voting process and to track voters. At many locations, the observers sat at the same table.

"You've got two people right next to each other who are very emotionally charged for long hours," McGunagle said.

About five or six arguments broke out, but McGunagle said the mere presence of police officers prevented them from escalating into anything serious.

"I'm not sorry we used them," he said about the officers.

The police presence also resulted in one arrest.

At Arlington Elementary School on Princess Avenue, a state trooper who went to use the restroom at 2:30 p.m. ended up arresting a Cranston firefighter who was a poll observer.

State Police Maj. Steven O'Donnell said the trooper smelled marijuana in the single-stall room and tracked down and confronted the firefighter.

The trooper arrested Lt. Bruce Torman, 42, and charged him with possession of marijuana.

School was in session, O'Donnell said, "which is probably the most disturbing part of this whole story."