GOP candidates removed from Massachusetts ballot over fraudulent signatures

A Massachusetts judge returned ballot access to one of three Republican statewide candidates who were initially thrown off the primary ballot after forged signatures left them short of the 10,000 signature requirement. 

Republican and Democrat leaders agree that they will prioritize ballot-access reforms that lessen the temptation to resort to false signatures.

Essex County Associate Justice Jeffrey Karp restored Michael Walsh’s candidacy for state attorney general, but he kept the lieutenant governor candidates – Anne Manning Martin and Anne Brensley – off the ballot for the Sept. 1 primary. Brensley was the favored running mate of GOP governor candidate Mike Minogue.

The town clerk from Hanover sent a letter to Brensley and Walsh that the office found signatures from voters who said that they did not sign the petitions.

Brensley and Walsh both hired Joe Bronsky as one of their petitioners. They say he forged signatures gathered from a Republican database. 

Bronsky invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when he was deposed.

Democrat executive director Adam Roof accused Walsh of having inadequate signatures after the fraudulent ones were disqualified. The judge dismissed his objection.

MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale defended the three candidates and is calling for reform of the ballot-access system. Carnevale said that the high signature threshold has increased the role of professional petitioners, which gives advantage to the most moneyed campaigns for both candidates and ballot-questions.

Democrats recently had similar concerns about professional petitioners for ballot questions, passing a House bill to create a commission to recommend changes to petitioning processes.