Judge Rebukes Republican Candidates Suing To Nullify MA Election

SUDBURY, MA — Five Massachusetts Republicans who lost races in the November election are suing to nullify the results, claiming widespread voting fraud and illegal acts by lawmakers. But a federal judge overseeing the case on Tuesday expressed skepticism the suit will prevail without more evidence.

Former candidates Caroline Colarusso, Ingrid Centurion, John Paul Moran, Craig Valdez and Helen Brady are suing Gov. Charlie Baker and Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin. They claim Baker and state lawmakers violated the state Constitution by expanding absentee and early voting, among many other claims.

The former candidates want an immediate injunction on the results of the election. But U.S. District Court Allison Burroughs said the plaintiffs should have sued before the election if they were worried about expanded voting.

"What you don't get to do is look at an entire arrangement for voting and not say a word until you lose the election, and then complain about the process," Burroughs told Moran, who was speaking on behalf of the group, during a hearing Tuesday.

The state Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker expanded absentee voting in July to allow residents to cast ballots by mail if they felt unsafe going to the polls due to the coronavirus pandemic. The plaintiffs claim the state Constitution allows absentee voting under limited circumstances, and none include a pandemic.

The former candidates also accused lawmakers of creating an "incumbent protection scheme" by expanding the early voting period in the weeks before the election.

"Voters tend to vote for the candidates who have name recognition, a commodity that incumbents generally come into the race with and challengers hope to acquire in limited time," the lawsuit says.

Each of the former candidates lost by wide margins to Democratic incumbents. State Rep. Carmine Gentile defeated Centurion with about 69 percent of the vote in a race for a district that covers Sudbury, Framingham and Marlborough. U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark defeated Colarusso with about 75 percent of the vote. Moran only took about 34 percent of the vote against victorious U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.

Under questioning from Burroughs on Tuesday, Moran said the lawsuit was based on "investigations of our own" and talking to voters who alleged fraud. They also claim Dominion Voting Systems machines used across the state in November came pre-programmed to divert votes to certain candidates — an assertion made by Trump supporters that has been debunked by government officials and election experts.

Apart from a total decertification of the November election, the former candidates want a federal judge to prevent the state's electors from picking President-elect Joe Biden at the Electoral College; the impounding of all voting machines for inspection; a full recount of all "valid/legal" ballots; and the removal of up to 2 million "invalid/illegal" votes that may have been cast under the absentee voting expansion, or by "non-U.S. citizens."

Ultimately, Burroughs said it's unclear if the issues in the suit are even fit for federal court. She also said it would be "terribly unfair to all of the people that showed up to vote in this election" to block the results this late.

The lawsuit also resembles one filed in November by Shiva Ayyadurai, who lost to Kevin O'Connor in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in September. Ayyadurai claims Galvin ordered electronic voting machines to delete ballot images after votes were counted — a claim also made in the latest election lawsuit.

The case will be back in court on Dec. 17, when state attorneys representing Baker and Galvin are set to file a response to candidates' claims.