Mayoral objection
Mayor Dan Rivera is planning to fight the recall petition all the way – no matter how much it is going to cost the city. Through his attorneys, he has filed an Objection to Recall Petition presented to the City Clerk on September 2, 2015, which was accepted by the Board of Registrars on September 9, by means of utilizing Massachusetts General Laws and the Lawrence City Charter.
Mayor Rivera presented 6 reasons for his objection. Here are some excerpts:
- They do not have the proper wording since they are not “signed under the pains and penalties of perjury” where the word under is missing.
- Many of the signatures are non-genuine and should not have been certified.
- Numerous affidavits should not be certified because the voters requested that their affidavits be withdrawn before the Board of Registrars certified their signatures.
- Numerous affidavits should not be certified because they were fraudulently obtained.
- Numerous people who filed affidavits are “Inactive Voters” and would not be able to vote at an election without filing an affirmation of current and continuous residence and showing identification. Therefore, they are not eligible to sign an affidavit.
- This point explains how the affidavits were faulty due to the system used. Signers checked off only some of the 9 grounds enumerated while others had none checked off. That makes a total of over 40 different affidavits and none have over 100 signers.
