Statement from Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons on Second Suffolk District State Committeewoman recount
March 27, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Evan Lips, communications director
617-523-5005 ext. 245
WOBURN -- Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons issued the following statement today after a recount of last March's election for Second Suffolk Republican State Committeewoman saw totals that dwarfed the count confirmed by the Boston Election Department more than a year ago:
"What does it say about the Boston Election Department that a year after certifying just 40 write-in votes spread across three candidates, today they somehow managed to 'find' 167 votes? This is an indication that the Boston Board of Election Commissioners is either completely incompetent, in the pocket of the Democrat Party machine, or both. Everyone on that commission should have to resign immediately. The recount proves that Boston Election Division actively disenfranchised Republican voters a year ago, and they should have to answer for that."
Lyons continued:
"Based on this information we can also safely assume this same Democrat electioneering machine successfully worked to knock another Republican write-in candidate, Rayla Campbell, off of the November ballot to ensure that incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley wouldn't even have to campaign last fall.
If the Boston Election Division can successfully disenfranchise Republican voters in the March 2020 primary, you have to believe they did the same to voters who wrote in Rayla's (Campbell) name last September."
"They didn't count lawfully cast ballots. The system is absolutely broken, and this is the evidence. Every single member of that commission should resign immediately. Election integrity in the city of Boston is a failure."
Background:
On March 3, 2020, there was no declared winner among the three Boston Republicans competing as write-in candidates for the vacant Second Suffolk State Committeewoman seat, as no candidate satisfied Boston's 50-vote threshold for certification.
After a year's worth of litigation, the Boston Board of Election Commissioners announced on Tuesday that a recount would be conducted Saturday, March 27.
Saturday's recount saw Boston election officials certify 65 votes for Chinnaswamy, 52 votes for Kemp, and 50 votes for Greene, for a total of 167 votes, more than four times as many than previously certified following the March 3, 2020, election.
Following the Sept. 1, 2020, U.S. House Republican primary, The Boston Election Division certified 568 write-in votes for Rayla Campbell, who needed at least 2,000 votes spread out across seven municipalities, to have her name certified for the November general election ballot versus incumbent U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
Campbell finished with 1,202 certified write-in votes, distributed across seven cities and towns.
The recount rate established Saturday, if applied to Campbell's Sept. 1 totals, would have Campbell potentially receive over 2,000 votes in Boston alone, more than enough to qualify for the November ballot.
Comment from 2020 7th Congressional District Republican candidate Rayla Campbell:
"This is an example of one-party Democrat control that violates my rights, and disenfranchises Black Republican conservative voters in the city of Boston. After learning about the dramatic change during Saturday's recount, how can any Republican voters think otherwise?"
