Villamaino has refused requests for comment referring inquiries by a reporter previous to attorney William Bennett who responded that he had no plans to represent Villamaino.
EAST LONGMEADOW – An employee of the town’s community access television station has been placed on paid leave and state and local police sifted through records at Town Hall Thursday in the wake of a voter fraud investigation.
Enrico P. Villamaino IIIA law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said search warrants also were executed at on the homes of East Longmeadow selectman Enrico J. Villamaino III and special projects coordinator for the town-funded public access television station Courtney Llewellyn Thursday.
A day after Secretary of State William Galvin said his office would supervise the Sept. 6 primary election in East Longmeadow, a spokesman for his office said they do not yet know how many staffers the office will send to supervise balloting on that day. The town has a single polling site broken down into four precincts with 24 employees manning the polls, according to Town Clerk Thomas Florence.
The investigation, which now encompasses Galvin’s office, local and state police and the Hampden District Attorney’s office, was triggered when 445 applications for absentee ballots poured in – four times that of the last election - and political affiliations changed without voters' consent.
The primary will feature races for the 1st Congressional District, Superior Court Clerk’s post and the Governor’s Council. The only local contest pits Villamaino against Longmeadow Selectwoman and lawyer Marie Angelides in the Republican contest for state representative of the 2nd Hampden District.
The race has been closely watched as Angelides beat Villamaino in the 2010 primary by just 284 votes; she was ultimately defeated by Democratic state Rep. Brian Ashe of Longmeadow.
James DriscollVillamaino has refused or ignored requests for comment, previously referring inquiries by a reporter to lawyer, William M. Bennett, the former Hampden District Attorney, who responded that he had no plans to represent Villamaino.
An email obtained by The Republican states that Selectman James D. Driscoll ordered that Llewellyn be placed on paid leave “pending further development in an ongoing investigation.”
The suspension occurred on Monday according to the email.
“Please work with IT to suspend all means of the employee’s access,” Driscoll wrote, referring to the town's information technology department.
Llewellyn, a former assistant editor for Reminder Publications, did not return a call for comment.
Driscoll declined to comment on the email.
While he would not discuss the alleged role of any town employee in the ballot scandal, Florence said an employee who was placed on paid leave from another department often volunteered during lunch hours and when he was short-staffed in his office.
Florence, who has not been implicated in the probe, said he did not know how anyone gained access to the voting records.
“How anyone got in after hours, I don’t know,” he said. “I have been here for nine-and-a-half years and covered almost 30 elections. I’ve never had a problem, so I can’t help but feel angry. My job here is to protect voters’ rights,” Florence said.
Villamaino did not respond to a fresh request for comment Thursday evening.
Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said the investigation is active, but he is not necessarily working toward a primary election deadline to resolve the matter.
“I know it would be a really neat tied-up package if we can do it that way, but their deadline is not our deadline. We’re going to follow it where it leads, but I can say it is a fully active investigation,” Mastroianni said.
In addition to the swell of absentee ballots, many voters discovered their party affiliation had been switched without their knowledge – including Democratic Town Committee member Kevin B. Coyle. He said he was surprise to learn he had turned GOP, according to new voting records, and had not changed his alliance.
Under state law, there are statutes prohibiting unlawful distribution of absentee voter ballots, illegal voting, election-related forgery, and aiding and abetting. Some are felonies and carry possible prison penalties.