October 3, 2007
East Providence: New "Heights" of Voter Fraud
Accusations of voter fraud in East Providence reached a hitherto unexplored level tonight when it was revealed that recently appointed School Committee Member Stephen DeCastro (D) is registered to vote in both Bradenton, Florida and East Providence, Rhode Island.
In an emergency meeting at East Providence City Hall prompted by an inquiry from the Tax Assessor's Office, the East Providence Board of Canvassers reviewed documentation including certification that Mr. DeCastro was registered to vote in Manatee County, Florida as of July 27, 2004 and his Rhode Island Voter Registration Form indicating that he voted in the November, 2004 election in East Providence.
It was noted that Mr. DeCastro had also voted in the 2006 election in East Providence but no documentation was presented because the East Providence Canvassing Authority had switched over to all electronic records by then. It is not presently known if Mr. DeCastro also voted in Florida in 2004 and 2006.
While cautioning the Board that there may be mitigating circumstances (my characterization) to Mr. DeCastro's dual voter registration, East Providence City Solicitor William Conley also presented documentation or provided testimony that Mr. DeCastro had claimed homestead exemptions on both his Florida and Rhode Island residences (the latter potentially qualifying him for a 15% discount off the assessed value of his East Providence property); that he possesses a Florida drivers license; that he has vehicles registered in East Providence and that he specified his East Providence address on his personal income tax returns.
On the basis of the considerable documentation placed in front of them, the Board of Canvassers voted to formally challenge Mr. DeCastro's right to vote in East Providence.
UPDATE
According to Alisha Pina at the ProJo, School Committee Member DeCastro did not also vote in Florida.
UPDATE II
Images added.
The "emergency" canvassing meeting tonight in E.P. sure was something special (...anytime you get a 3-0 vote with our canvassing board, it is something very special!). Thank you to Monique for taking the time to come "all the way" up to East Providence for it.
As it appears that our newly appointed School Committee member has been claiming simultaneous homestead exemptions (one in E.P. and one in Florida) for at least the last several years now, it doesn't take a rocket science to understand that his possible commission of voter fraud may be the least of his worries (although if it is determined that his votes in 2002, 2004, and 2006 in Rhode Island were fraudulent, he is still potentially subject to our criminal justice system, if the AG decides to prosecute it in a timely manner -- and that's a big "if").
If Mr. Decastro is determined through the state voter challenge process not to be a valid East Providence voter [the process which was approved by the board tonight], I really don't see how he can continue on as a member of the School Committee in East Providence. Furthermore, although it's possible that Rhode Island may not prosecute him, because he's a well-connected insider (his father was chief of police here ... he's also related to the "morbidly obese lawnmower repairman turned executive high sheriff" from a few years back), I suspect that the State of Florida may not be so favorable towards him. Since Florida does not have a state income tax, they are very reliant on property taxes. They tend to prosecute cases related to fraudulent claims of their homestead exemption, shall we say, rather vigorously.
Basically, it comes down to this: if he really is an East Providence resident and legally registered voter, it appears that he's been committing some sort of tax fraud/evasion in Florida and might be subject to state criminal charges there. If he's determined not to be an East Providence resident and registered voter, then not only could he be removed from the school committee, but could also be prosecuted for voter fraud, as he has been voting here. I think that's what you'd call a Catch-22.
Posted by: Will at October 3, 2007 1:05 AMInteresting point, Will. And if Mr. DeCastro declares Florida as his primary resident to avoid their tougher approach to tax fraud activities, that will presumably immediately disqualify him from holding any public office in E.P., including the one he present occupies.
Posted by: Monique at October 3, 2007 8:01 AM