Dead people caught voting in NYC, elections records show
Ballots have been mailed in to the New York City Board of Elections in the name of dead voters, The Post has learned.
Records show that the elections board received an absentee ballot from a Frances Reckhow of Staten Island, a registered Democrat.
The BOE mailed an absentee ballot requested by Frances M. Reckhow of Bedell Avenue on Sept. 24.
Reckhow supposedly mailed the ballot back on Oct. 6 and the BOE received it and declared it valid on Oct. 8, tracking records show.
But there’s a problem: Frances Reckhow, who was born on July 6, 1915 and would be 105 today, died in 2012, according to an obituary filed with The Staten Advance.
Her daughter, Carol Huben, a registered Republican according to voting records, is listed as residing at the same address as her late mother.
Huben did not return phone messages for comment. The Board of Elections said they will look into it.
An absentee ballot was also mailed from a Gertrude Nizzere, also a registered Democrat, who was born on Feb. 7, 1919 and would be 101 today.
The BOE said someone identifying as Gertrude Nizzere, with an address of Shore Road in Brooklyn, requested an absentee ballot in September..
Records show the Nizzere ballot was mailed on Oct. 9 and it was received back by the BOE on Oct.13, which declared the ballot valid on Oct. 25.
But after further review, the agency on Oct. 30 declared the Nizzere ballot received “Invalid” because a search found the voter was “Deceased,” its records show.
The Staten Island Republican Party, which is closely scrutinizing the absentee ballots, flagged the two records to The Post and is referring the matter to the police and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office.
A close outcome is expected between first-term Democratic Rep. Max Rose and Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis for the 11th congressional seat covering Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, including Rekhow and Nizzere’s addresses.
“People should be on the alert for dead people voting. There are people using the names of dead voters to cast ballots,” said Staten Island GOP chairman Brendan Lantry.
“I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Lantry. “We’re requesting that the NYPD and the Staten Island District Attorney’s office investigate.
Republicans discovered that Nizzere died on July 4, 2016 and is buried in Calverton cemetery.
Filling out a ballot in a dead person’s name is fraud and has resulted in prosecutions elsewhere, including recently on Long Island, where a voter was accused of forging his dead mom’s name on an absentee ballot.
The Board of Elections said it was looking into the matter. The absentee ballots don’t get counted until six days after Election Day in New York.
President Trump has raised concerns about mail-in balloting, including after the city BOE was forced to resend nearly 100,000 absentee ballots to Brooklyn voters after a vendor provided the wrong return envelopes with other people’s names.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/02/dead-people-caught-voting-in-nyc-elections-records-show/
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo