R.I. Board of Elections finds ‘no obvious pattern of fraud’ in Matos nomination papers

By votes of 4 to 2, the board ended up rejecting a motion to subpoena the Matos signature collectors to appear next Tuesday, but it approved a motion to subpoena the collectors to appear before board after the primary in September.

The Board of Elections action comes as Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office continues to conduct a criminal investigation into potentially fraudulent signatures. The Jamestown Board of Canvassers, the Newport Canvassing Authority and the East Providence Canvassing Authority had asked the police to investigate.

On July 21, the board determined that Matos, a Providence Democrat, qualified to appear on the Sept. 5 primary ballot, basing that decision on the 730 signatures validated by local boards of canvassers — which was more than the 500 required for ballot placement. But amid calls for a wider review, the board on Aug. 8 voted to review all the signatures submitted for Matos.

On Tuesday, board Executive Director Robert B. Rapoza reported that the review found that of the 1,256 signatures examined, 726 were approved and 559 were disqualified (including 29 blank lines) — just four signatures different than the 730 approved and 555 disqualified (including 29 blank lines) by the local boards of canvassers.

“As part of the review, they detected no obvious pattern of fraud,” Rapoza said.

The board’s vice chairperson, David H. Sholes, noted the review came within four signatures of the total arrived at by local boards of canvassers, saying, “That is certainly acceptable. And I see nothing wrong with that. So I think people in this state can rest assured in their faith and confidence in the system. The system works. It’s been working for decades. And it worked in this election.”

But board member Louis A. DeSimone Jr. asked how the elections officials had reached their conclusions, saying, “When we say there is no obvious fraud, how would we explain deceased people being on the list?” He noted that some people have told reporters that they did not sign nominations papers that bear their names.

The board’s planning and program specialist, Manny Hernandez, said those voters were included in the “not eligible” category. While the local boards put 29 signatures in the “not eligible” category, the review put 38 signatures in that category.

Board member Randall A. Jackvony asked to review the nomination papers, and he spent a portion of the meeting looking for the names of people in East Providence, Newport, and Barrington that had said in media reports that they did not sign the nomination papers. He said 11 people swore that they witnessed signatures being collected for the Matos campaign, and he emphasized the seriousness of that part of the nomination process.

DeSimone and Jackvony voted to subpoena those who collected signatures for Matos and to bring them before the board at a meeting next Tuesday.

But Sholes noted that the attorney general’s office and the State Police are conducting a criminal investigation. He said the people who collected those signatures are likely to invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions.

“I don’t know what we will accomplish by asking them to come in without the cooperation of the attorney general,” he said. “We can do it after he completes his investigation. But to use this as means of gathering evidence, I think we will be interfering with his investigation of the case.”

Sholes said the number of fraudulent signatures is not “statistically significant” and could not knock Matos off the ballot. “A deep dive is only going to create a chaotic atmosphere in this election,” he said. “The voters will have the ultimate say on Sept. 5 on this issue, and many other issues.”

DeSimone said the board would be allowed to draw an inference from a decision to take the Fifth. He said his understanding is that the attorney general’s investigation is completely separate from the board’s process, and the criminal probe probably won’t be done before the election.

“I wish him luck in his investigation,” DeSimone said. “But I think we have a duty.”

Michael M. Goldberg, an attorney representing the Matos campaign, addressed the board, saying the campaign shares concerns about fraud but emphasized that early voting begins on Wednesday.

“This board needs to ensure the integrity of elections,” he said. “If the board opts to continue this investigation while early voting is underway, the board itself is going to affect the election.”

He said the results from the board’s review are clear, and Matos has more than the 500 signatures required to appear on the Sept. 5 ballot.

The board might want to review the process after the election to make changes for future elections, Goldberg said. “But if the board continues meeting after meeting while people are voting, it runs the risk of affecting the election itself,” he said. “It runs a real risk. People are voting tomorrow.”

Board member Marcela Betancur ended up making a motion to have the board subpoena those who collected signatures for the Matos campaign and to ask them to come before the board on Sept. 12. The board voted 4 to 2 for that motion, with Sholes and board member Michael P. Connors voting no.

Afterward, Matos issued a statement, saying, “The Board of Elections has affirmed what my campaign has said all along and what the Secretary of State previously found: despite being the victim of a vendor who lied to my campaign, we submitted more than enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.”

Matos, one of 12 Democrats running in the primary, said, “I believe in our democratic process, and I am glad that we can all be confident that it worked. It is unfortunate that the guys who are running against me have used this as an opportunity to attempt to smear my reputation and call into question our democratic process.”

Matt Rauschenbach, communications director for Gabe Amo’s campaign, issued a statement, saying, “Rhode Islanders need a leader in Congress who is focused on important issues like gun violence prevention, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and defending our reproductive freedoms, not one that is mired in messy criminal investigations.”

John M. Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, issued a statement afterward, noting that while the Board of Elections did not find a significant change in the total number of qualified signatures for Matos, it did reach different conclusions as to whether dozens of individual signatures were qualified. And he said that highlights inconsistencies in the process at local boards of canvassers.

“It is clear that changes to the process must be made, including additional training, a clearer chain of communications when problem signatures are identified, more extensive regulations, and a revised election calendar that will give the Board of Elections more time to investigate in the future when questions arise about the validity of signatures,” Marion said. “We believe that the majority of the board, that voted to keep this issue before them for future improvements, was correct, and Vice Chair Sholes’ continued dismissiveness of the issue from the beginning is concerning.”

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.