NOTES BETWEEN PRINTED EDITIONS:
EDITOR’S NOTE: Subsequent to the initial posting of this article, the subject, Marie Stoeckel was formally suspended. The action of suspension was taken against her by those reporting to the mayor. We re told the mayor abstained from the proceedings to avoid any conflict of interests in the matter, but, as noted after this article, a hearing is expected to take place in Sept.
ORIGINAL POSTING
by Marie Stoeckel
Warden, Weymouth Precinct 7
On August 13, 2024, I received a letter from Ted Langill, Mayor Hedlund’s Chief of Staff, asserting that I was being suspended from my “duties and responsibilities as Warden for Precinct 7.” I maintain that this suspension is illegal under MGL c. 54, §13 which outlines the process for removal of Election Officers (poll workers).
How could this happen when I have been working as an Election Officer for over 8 years and as a Warden in charge of an election precinct for over two years? I’ve been duly appointed by the Mayor every year from the list of Republicans provided by the Chair of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee. I was promoted to Warden by the Town Clerk several years ago.
In a meeting called by Town Solicitor Rick McLeod, on August 6, 2024, he strongly recommended that I resign due to a “perceived conflict of interest” and threatened me with legal action for knowingly and willfully miscounting ballots. Both at the meeting and via my letter of August 13, 2024, I made it clear that I, the Precinct Clerk, and the Inspectors carried out our duties accurately and lawfully. I also made it clear that I would not resign. I reminded the Town Solicitor of the law outlining removal of Election Officers and welcomed the prospect of a public hearing as I have nothing to hide.
By the way, the initiator of this whole charade is Kathleen Deree, Town Clerk of Weymouth and a Democrat, who came out of the shadows to claim that she received two complaints about Precinct 7. In response, she and two of her staff illegally examined, without observation by a Republican Registrar, all the ballots in Precinct 7, as well as the ballots in the other 18 precincts, all in violation of MGL C 54, §135. [Editor’s Note- Update: Application of the law appears to be a point of contention at this time.] The Town Clerk flagrantly disregarded due process as well as the sanctity of the ballots that she is charged with safeguarding.
Clearly, the Town Clerk and the Weymouth Democrat machine want me out and here are some of the reasons why:
- I recruit Republicans to work at the polls on election day in order to assure an equal distribution of Democrats and Republicans at the polls. In March of 2020, 8 out of 108 poll workers were Republican. This March, we had 43 Republicans out of 114 possible positions. The current list submitted to the Mayor for appointment has 53 Republicans!
- I encourage Republican Inspectors to move into Clerk and Warden positions. This takes time and we have slowly increased to 4 Clerks and 3 Wardens (including me), out of 19 precincts. The goal is a total of 19 Clerks and Wardens.
- When the Town Clerk failed to provide a training class for Election Officers prior to the March election, I met with the new Clerks and Wardens to review information from or based on materials from the Secretary of State’s Office. I assure you that the Clerks and Wardens appreciated the knowledge and exchange of information. These are intimidating and demanding jobs even when formal training is provided.
Not surprisingly, my “book club” meeting was discovered, the Town Clerk reported me to the Secretary of State’s Office, and I am under investigation. Ironically, the Town Clerk’s actual violation of her duty to train Election Officers under the Town of Weymouth Code of Ordinances, Section 2-304(b)(8), does not seem to require any action by the Town.
In case you didn’t see the Boston Broadside article from February 2023, I am the Mayor’s appointed Republican Registrar who was rejected by the primarily Democrat Town Council – twice!
It appears that the Town Clerk is afraid of me for some unknown reason and that the Mayor is keeping a low profile in this battle. These ongoing actions against me are unacceptable and reprehensible. As you all know, Republicans are in the minority in Massachusetts and Democrats are unscrupulous in their efforts to prevent us from attaining equal representation during the election process as required by state law.
My story is the tip of the iceberg of election violations in Weymouth and the suppression of Republican representation. I am need of your support for the upcoming hearing. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
EDITOR’S NOTES UPDATED: Mayor Hedlund and his appointees were invited to share their views. We’re told the Mayor saw the e-mails, but didn’t read them. Also, this whole thing apparently is over TWO ballots containing write-in information which was not tallied, out of approximately 650 in the precinct, which the Democrat town clerk, without Republican representation, examined several months after the March 5th election, leading to questions of integrity (and then apparently escalated to this suspension). Again, since initial posting, we’re told that all Marie Stoeckel has requested is a hearing, as she maintains she is entitled to a hearing. The timing – from March 5th election to being suspended for the Sept. 3rd election has been noted. The hearing is expected to take place in Sept. after the primary elections.
