PRESS RELEASE
MACRAE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH LEGAL CHALLENGE TO SUBSTANTIAL IRREGULARITIES WITH MAIL-IN VOTING PROCESS DURING GOP STATE SENATE PRIMARY
Seeks Donations to MacRae Election Fund to Pay Legal Expenses
BOURNE, Mass. – Kari MacRae, the conservative Republican candidate for State Senate in the Plymouth and Barnstable District, today announced her intention to move forward with a legal challenge to the substantial irregularities with the mail-in process during the GOP State Senate primary on September 3, 2024.
After a recount, the margin between MacRae and State Representative Mathew Muratore tightened to a mere 39 votes, less than one vote per precinct, in an election in which 14,550 voters participated. During the recount, overwhelming, compelling, and troubling evidence was uncovered about substantial irregularities in the mail-in ballot process throughout the district, especially in the Town of Plymouth.
STATEMENT OF KARI MACRAE ON MOVING FORWARD WITH A LEGAL CONTEST TO SUBSTANTIAL IRREGULARITIES WITH THE MAIL-IN BALLOT PROCESS
“Put simply, the rules and regulations outlined in Massachusetts law to protect and validate the integrity of relatively unsecure early mail-in ballots were not followed during the primary election. In some instances, ballots with an obvious flaw committed by the voter, such as a lack of the required voter signature, were improperly counted. In other cases, ballots with different flaws, such as missing date and time stamps on the ballots and procedural errors committed by the election administrators, were also improperly counted. In addition, virtually every town clerk in the district failed to perform the legally required verification of the voter signature on the mail-in ballot envelope with the voter signature on file with the Town Clerk’s office.
“Before 1,800 mail-in ballots in the Town of Plymouth were counted, I maintained a 581-vote lead in the primary contest. After the Town of Plymouth’s mail-in ballots were counted – in a tainted process marked by almost complete non-compliance with election law – Representative Muratore managed to receive just enough ‘votes’ to land 39 votes ahead of me.
“The mail-in ballot process is a mess. The town clerks often don’t follow the law. They simply can’t. They do not have the resources or the time to do real signature verification called for by state law. By the nature of the process, mail-in ballots are unsecure. The opportunity for unscrupulous ballot harvesting is irresistible. In the post-COVID world of massive early mail-in balloting, if we are going to have elections in which voters can absolutely trust and believe with
absolute certainty the candidate who received the majority of the votes actually fairly won – we must guarantee the rules and regulations protecting the early mail-in ballot process are strictly followed, and the mail-in ballot process is done uniformly in every town and city in the Commonwealth.
“Obviously, my legal contest of this primary election is about the race between me and Matt Muratore. If the court requires a thorough examination of all the mail-in ballots in the primary – and counts all the ballots properly cast and rejects the ballots improperly cast – I believe I will be declared the winner. If I didn’t believe this, I would not be bringing this case, I would use the administrative process to address the mail-in ballots.
“But, on another level, this election contest is about much, much more than the campaign between Matt Muratore and I. My challenge to primary also is about the integrity of the mail-in ballot process. Early mail-in balloting is a new phenomenon in electoral politics. It’s a dirty little secret that city and town clerks throughout the Commonwealth do not have the personnel or the resources to guarantee the integrity of the mail-in ballot process. When the margin of victory in an election is substantial, the integrity of mail-in ballots isn’t as impactful. But when the number of votes separating the candidates is 39 – out of 14,550 cast – the integrity of the mail-in ballots is a very big deal.
“This week I formed the MacRae Legal Fund with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. It’s going to take some money to bring the legal actions in court. Unfortunately, the contest process isn’t cheap. I urge people who believe in me and the cause of election integrity to reach out and contribute to the MacRae Legal Fund.
“For more than two years, I have promised my supporters I would fight for them. I promised I would be a positive force for constructive change at the State House and in the State Senate. If I back down now, if I give up and accept the results of an election in which I firmly believe I received a majority of the legally and properly cast votes, I will betray all the promises I made to the people who believe in me and are counting on me to continue to fight for them.
“I just can’t do that.
“That’s why I continue to press forward. That’s why I refuse to quit. I hope and pray the court will order an investigation of the mail-in ballots cast in this primary. It’s necessary. And if it happens, I am confident I will win this election and go on to defeat Dylan Fernandes in the general election.”
