Fraud Lawsuit Against Bronx Dems Won’t Halt Election

Fraud allegations won’t stop the Democratic Party primaries from rolling on in the Bronx — at least for now.

A group of activists who sued the Bronx Democratic Party — claiming they were used as straw candidates for political posts — have not shown they will suffer enough “irreparable harm” to justify halting next week’s elections, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

But Judge Kimba Wood said in Manhattan Federal Court that she could still order a new election after the fact, if evidence emerges of foul play from the party machine.

The plaintiffs alleged in a $5 billion lawsuit that party leaders had nominated them to the local county committee without their knowledge.

The lawsuit also named well-connected lawyer Stanley Schlein, an election law expert the suit called the “linchpin” of the Bronx Dems’ alleged scheme.

The committee makes endorsements and picks delegates who nominate judges, who often run opposed.

Detail of evidence presented by Bronx activists trying to stop the Democratic primary election.

When the plaintiffs missed meetings because they did not know they were elected, party bosses allegedly filled their seats with cronies, the suit alleges.

The plaintiffs also say they have evidence that the party collects signatures on empty nomination petitions — and then, later, subs in names of people it wants on the ballot.

A spokesman for the Bronx Dems had previously slammed the lawsuit as “a bizarre political complaint that reads more like a ranting screed than a serious legal filing.”

Judge Wood also banned the Board of Elections from retaliating against one plaintiff, Ilka Rios, who said she had been stripped of her job as a poll worker because of her involvement in the suit.

“They could say that here in the courtroom, but someone has to tell me,” a skeptical Rios, 43, said afterward.

Source: www.nydailynews.com www.nydailynews.com

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