Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte by virtue of an investigation conducted by his Auburn State Police C-Pac Unit files charges of voter fraud, a law from the 1800's not seldom applied against Paul M. Pezzella, a Worcester native and longtime Democratic Party campaign official and well-known local Democrat, magazine publisher Paul J. Giorgio.

 

Some people feel otherwise, but I think it’s inspiring that our district attorney has lowered the legal boom against two renegade voters who have shamelessly tried to steal local elections by having the gall to cast their ballots, um, er, where they grew up or used to live.

OK, so the voter fraud scandal may seem benign on the surface. But D.A. John Conte managed to throw open the political Pandora’s box when he charged Paul J. Giorgio and Paul M. Pezzella with the felony of unlawful voting.

The two Appalling Pauls, well-known political operatives, were charged with voting in the wrong district Nov. 8 after a losing candidate in the City Council race, Candice Mero Carlson, filed a voter fraud complaint with police. Now I don’t wish to accuse Ms. Carlson of sour grapes, because we really must consider this from Ms. Carlson’s perspective and realize that she lost the election by only 102 votes. Had the Appalling Pauls presumably not been allowed to vote for her challenger, Philip P. Palmieri, she would have lost the election by only 100 votes. Do you see where I’m going here?

I don’t either. The point is, Mr. Conte is right to use the power of his office to hector these middle-aged voters, rather than squander public resources by chasing, say, the killer of Candace Scola or solving the disappearance of Baby Marlon Santos. I’m not a member of Mr. Conte’s inner circle, but I’m betting that he subscribes to the broken windows theory of crime. Let the Appalling Pauls get away with voting in the wrong district, and next time they’ll be handing out bagfuls of cash to buy votes in Chicago.

Neither of these unrepentant felons would confess to any wrongdoing yesterday. Mr. Pezzella said he has voted in Worcester for some 40 years even though he now lives mostly in Boston because he grew up here and considers Worcester the center of his civic and cultural life. Mr. Giorgio, likewise, said he never bothered to change his voting address when he bought a house on Monadnock Road in 1994. He has since switched his voter registration to his current address.

“I’ve been voting in Worcester my whole adult life,” Mr. Pezzella said. “It’s where my heart is. Why else would I drive 80 miles to go vote?”

Mr. Conte, who has enormous discretion, has chosen to charge these men with a felony based on a vague law that prohibits the kind of real, actual voter fraud traditionally favored by patriarchs of the Kennedy clan.

“The police investigated and found that the two individuals complained about had domiciles outside of District 2,” Mr. Conte has said. “It’s pretty simple.”

I’m glad it’s so simple, because now he can turn his attention to the wife of U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern. According to local election officials, Lisa McGovern hasn’t missed a vote in Worcester since voter registration went online in 1996. While it’s true that the McGoverns own a family home on Burncoat Street, Lisa McGovern works full time in Washington for the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. A native of upstate New York, Mrs. McGovern and her husband own a home on Capitol Hill in Washington and their two kids attend school there.

“She spends as much time (in Worcester) as she can,” maintained Mr. McGovern’s spokesman, Michael Mershon. “She’s a Worcester resident and she votes in Worcester and I can only hope that she votes for her husband.”

OK, so what’s the excuse for Monsignor Stephen Pedone, judicial vicar for canonical affairs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester? I happen to like Monsignor Pedone and hate to rat him out, but he admitted to me yesterday that he routinely votes in Ward 1 even though he hasn’t lived at his mother’s address on Tuxedo Road since the late 1970s. He now lives in the rectory of Blessed Sacrament Church on Pleasant Street, where he serves as pastor.

“I never really gave it any thought,” the monsignor said, adding that, while his mother still lives in the home, it includes a “life estate” that lists him and his sister as the owners. “I’ve always considered Tuxedo Road as home.”

I only hope that when Mr. Conte charges Monsignor Pedone with a felony, his office argues for low bail.

Mr. Conte has rebutted claims that the charges against the Appalling Pauls are politically motivated payback for old grudges. Yesterday, I asked Mr. Pezzella why he believes Mr. Conte chose to target him and Mr. Giorgio.

“I have no clue as to his motivation,” Mr. Pezzella said. “Is it to settle political scores? I don’t know. I would hope not.”

Craig A.J. Manseau, executive director of the city’s Election Commission, said he doesn’t believe the Appalling Pauls intentionally voted illegally.

“These are two gentlemen who have strong connections to their roots and to where they started their political careers,” he said. “I’m sure that in their hearts, that’s their home. But I don’t think they’re doing anything devious or under the radar screen. If they voted in two places, that would be serious. But they didn’t do that.”

Regardless, I’m thinking that the floodgates are open. Call me nostalgic, but I envision a return to the McCarthyism of the 1950s, when people named names and dropped dimes on their neighbors. Frank Raffa, aren’t you registered to vote on Benedict Drive when you really live with your brother on Westboro Street? What of the snowbirds and the college students? Harold Chase — you may be a resident of Israel, but have you changed your voting address from Kenilworth Road?

“I’ve been waiting for someone to bring other cases to light,” Mr. Manseau said with a sigh. “These questions are definitely ones a good reporter would ask.”

Here’s another: As he winds up a long career, doesn’t our district attorney have anything better to do?

Contact Dianne Williamson by e-mail at dwilliamson@telegram.com.

By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER— District Attorney John J. Conte sharply rebuked a lawyer for a political operative charged with illegally voting in the wrong district, advising him to tell his client to register to vote in Boston, where he owns a condominium.

“Instead of talking about the issue, he came at me personally. My advice to him … is to advise his client to register in Boston, where he’s domiciled.” Mr. Conte said yesterday. “That would go a long way toward correcting the situation.”

The lawyer, Max Stern of Boston, represents Paul M. Pezzella, a Worcester native and longtime Democratic Party campaign official who once ran for Worcester County sheriff and now is a Statehouse lobbyist.

Earlier this week, Mr. Stern called the charge against Mr. Pezzella, “an outrageous and bizarre misuse of power” by Mr. Conte.

Mr. Stern did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.

Police also have filed the same felony charge — unlawful voting — against another well-known local Democrat, magazine publisher Paul J. Giorgio.

The charges resulted from a complaint by another Democrat, Candice Mero Carlson, who lost by 102 votes in last fall’s election to District 2 City Councilor Philip P. Palmieri, an old political ally of Mr. Pezzella and Mr. Giorgio.

Both Mr. Pezzella and Mr. Giorgio have acknowledged that they have voted for years in District 2, even though their main residence has been elsewhere; in Mr. Giorgio’s case, across town in a different council district.

Mr. Conte said that Mr. Giorgio’s lawyer, Anthony Salerno, has avoided the real issue involved by arguing that Mr. Giorgio did not intend to break the law and has always voted in the same place: District 2.

“I’d rather have him look at the facts,” Mr. Conte said. “The police investigated and found that the two individuals complained about had domiciles outside of District 2. That makes them in violation of Chapter 56, section 26. It’s pretty simple.”

The relevant part of the law in question says that “whoever, knowing that he is not a qualified voter in any place, willfully votes or attempts to vote therein” is subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and five years in prison.

Mr. Conte said that while he does not refer all complaints to the police, he does so for those with merit, and he considered Ms. Carlson’s complaint worth investigating.

The district attorney rejected criticism from those who have implied his interest in the case is politically motivated. He said he had voted for Mr. Palmieri in the Nov. 8 election, and noted that Mr. Palmieri has contributed money and support to his own campaigns.

Mr. Conte also disputed theories that his involvement in the case was related to an old grudge between him and Mr. Pezzella and his political allies, including former state Sen. Gerard D’Amico.

“That’s ridiculous,” he said.

The supposed dispute stems from 1976, when Mr. Conte, a former state senator, was first appointed by former Gov. Michael Dukakis to an open district attorney seat. When he vacated his Senate seat, it was after the filing deadline for candidates, forcing Mr. D’Amico, who wanted to run for the seat, to wage a write-in campaign.

Even so, some observers say Mr. Conte overreached by applying a statute that some think is ambiguous, because it does not appear to clarify what constitutes a “qualified voter” or clearly set out residency guidelines. Election authorities in the state have generally loosely applied residency by considering voters’ homes where they say they are.

Mr. Conte countered that notion as well, saying the law is clear, and not outdated, having been last updated in 1993.

Those who expressed uneasiness with bringing the criminal charges include a key Carlson supporter, Worcester Democratic City Committee Chairman William J. Eddy.

“It seems over the top,” Mr. Eddy said. “If you think they did something wrong, tell them.”

Mr. Conte, he said, should have brought the pair in and told them: “This is questionable, don’t do it again.”

State Rep. Vincent A. Pedone, D-Worcester, who knows all involved, suggested that moves to limit voting could have negative consequences, with voting already at low levels because of public apathy.

Other observers, though, said they strongly support Mr. Conte’s pursuit of the case.

“It is illegal to vote where you don’t live,” said Dr. Michael Theerman, treasurer of the Worcester County Republican Club. “That’s exactly what happened here. I think it’s a public service to bring this out. It’s the law.”

Even the accused have not disputed the facts.

Those facts are, according to court documents, that Mr. Pezzella lives full time in a condominium at 215 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, and Mr. Giorgio’s home is at 11 Monadnock Road in Worcester, which is in District 1.

Mr. Pezzella has maintained that the 15 Shamrock St. apartment in Worcester he has used as his voting address is a legitimate family home owned by him and his relatives.

Mr. Giorgio, publisher of Pulse magazine, switched his voter registration to his current address after acknowledging that he had used for many years as a voting address a house at 5 Gordon St. in Worcester that he had not owned for five years or lived in for 10 years.

That changeover, coming a few days after Ms. Carlson filed her complaint last December, is tantamount to acknowledging that he was in violation of the law, Mr. Conte contended.

“It’s a pretty clear admission,” Mr. Conte said.

The district attorney would not say if he is prepared to drop the charges if Mr. Pezzella changes his registration, but he said Mr. Giorgio’s move was a positive step.

“That goes a long way,” he said.

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com.  

Mr. Conte said the accusations of improper voting in Worcester are not similar to allegations of voter fraud in Uxbridge in recent years.

"They're entirely different cases," he said.

In Worcester, Mr. Palmieri supporters Paul M. Pezzella and Paul Giorgio have acknowledged they have voted for many years in District 2 while their primary residence was elsewhere. Mr. Giorgio lives in another section of the city, and Mr. Pezzella said he usually stays at his Boston condominium.

The two men have defended their voting practice, saying it is legal, though critics such as Ms. Carlson say it violates state voting laws that forbid unqualified voters from casting ballots.

Mr. Conte said the Uxbridge case differs because the voters in question there told local election officials they did not live in the Blackstone Valley town.

"There was full disclosure," he said. "They were allowed to vote because of misinterpretation on the part of election officials about what (the law) said."

The state election law Mr. Conte was referring to, Chapter 51, Section 1, states voters in state and federal elections have six months to change their voting address after they move.

The law does not apply to local elections, though Uxbridge officials apparently thought it did, Mr. Conte said.

In the two instances in question, Kathleen Murphy and Alexa K. Romasco, both of whom lived out of town at the time, voted in town elections, Mr. Conte said. The women voted in 2003 and 2004.

Mr. Conte said the case, which was originally referred to him by Secretary of State William F. Galvin, was dismissed sometime last summer after being investigated by state police detectives.

"This was an error on the part of officials. We found no malicious intent in any of these cases, just a mistake," he said.

The district attorney declined to elaborate on the Worcester case.

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com. 

"This is about a free, fair and legal election process," Ms. Carlson said in an interview yesterday. "This is about the preservation of voting rights."

While Mr. Pezzella called Ms. Carlson's move "sour grapes," she said her close loss in a bitterly fought and expensive race had nothing to do with her going to the district attorney.

She said her complaint is not about changing the outcome of an election that she realizes she clearly lost.

But noting that violating the state's voter fraud statute carries criminal fines and penalties, Ms. Carlson said she wants Mr. Conte to prosecute if he finds wrongdoing.

"If this is a violation of the law, then it's a violation of the law and they should be held accountable for this," she said. "This is serious."

The district attorney received Ms. Carlson's Nov. 30 letter detailing the allegations and is investigating, said Elizabeth Stammo, a spokeswoman for Mr. Conte.

Both Mr. Giorgio and Mr. Pezzella - childhood friends who grew up together in the city's Shrewsbury Street neighborhood, which is in District 2 - acknowledge that their main place of residence is not in District 2 and that they cast votes at polling places in the district Sept. 8.

But both men, active Democrats, like Mr. Palmieri and Ms. Carlson, who have participated in many political campaigns, said they have voted all their adult lives there. They maintained they have not broken any laws by doing so.

The law appears ambiguous on the issue. Voting laws are fairly broad, generally allowing voters to vote where they want as long as they intend to live there or spend some time at the address.

State and city election officials said Ms. Carlson's complaint would likely have to be ruled on by a judge, if Mr. Conte lets it get that far.

Even so, Craig A.J. Manseau, executive director of Worcester's Election Commission, concluded that Mr. Giorgio could be in violation of the law because he never changed his voter registration to his new home when he moved out of the district about 10 years ago.

"He shouldn't be voting in District 2," Mr. Manseau said. "He's got to vote at his domicile. He's freely admitting that he's doing voting fraud."

Mr. Giorgio still lists his voting address with the city Election Commission as 5 Gordon St, even though he lives at 11 Monadnock Road, which is in District 1. He said he sold the Gordon Street home about five years ago.

"I'm only registered to vote in one place, which is legal," Mr. Giorgio said. "I'm registered in District 2 and I vote in District 2. You can vote any place you want. You can be registered any place you want. Where you are registered to vote doesn't have to be where you live."

While defending his practice of voting in his old district over the years, Mr. Giorgio, after receiving an inquiry from the Telegram & Gazette yesterday about the matter, went to the Election Commission office at City Hall and changed his voting address to 11 Monadnock Road.

Mr. Giorgio noted that his publishing business and Winter Street bar, S.P.Q.R., are both in District 2, saying he could register to vote using those addresses if he wanted to.

He said he never got around to changing his voting address after he moved across town. He also said the executive director of the city's election commission at the time, Anthony F. Ingrisano, told him that he could continue voting in District 2 even though he no longer lived there.

Mr. Pezzella said he lives much of the time in an apartment on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, but also keeps an apartment in Worcester at a three-decker at 15 Shamrock St. owned by his father, Thomas Pezzella. He lists the apartment as his voting address.

Mr. Pezzella called Ms. Carlson's accusations "ridiculous."

He said he started living mostly in Boston around 1992, but kept his apartment in his hometown.

"I have dual locations," he said. "But I vote in one place."

Mr. Palmieri said only that he is happy with the result of the election and Ms. Carlson's complaint "is an Election Commission issue."

Election officials appear to have differing views on whether Mr. Giorgio was within his rights in voting outside the district in which he resides. They agreed, however, that Mr. Pezzella has probably been on firm ground because he actually sometimes stays at the home he uses as his voting address.

Brian S. McNiff, a spokesman for Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the state's highest election official, said Mr. Giorgio seems to meet all the criteria for being a "qualified voter" according to the law; he is over 18, a citizen of the country, and a resident of the state or city. Where he actually lives is probably a technicality, he said.

"Your domicile is where you say it is. It's where a voter says they vote." Mr. McNiff said. "People don't have to be physically present where they voted."

Neither Mr. Giorgio nor Mr. Pezzella would say how they voted, but both bristled at the thought that Ms. Carlson would presume that they voted for Mr. Palmieri.

"How does she know I voted for Palmieri?" Mr. Pezzella said.

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com. 

"They threw the kitchen sink at me, but this is a win for the citizens of Worcester," he said after thanking supporters at SPQR, a Winter Street cafe and bar.

It was the second consecutive close election for Mr. Palmieri, who beat Michael Lavin, another labor-backed challenger, in 2001 by 183 votes. Yesterday, Mr. Palmieri won 1,701 to 1,599.

His victory is a setback for municipal labor unions, which are locked in tense contract negotiations with City Manager Michael V. O'Brien, with whom Mr. Palmieri has closely allied himself.

Mr. Palmieri, 59, a retired juvenile probation officer and Shrewsbury Street property owner, said his re-election is a vote of confidence in Mr. O'Brien's administration, as well as for the residents of the diverse district, which includes some of the city's most vibrant neighborhoods.

He said voters did not buy Ms. Carlson's assertions that she had "the right temperament for the job," a slightly veiled reference to Mr. Palmieri's sometimes prickly and headstrong personality.

"I'm glad to be back," he said. "The taxpayers of Worcester believed I not only had the right temperament but also the proper qualifications for the job."

In the last few weeks, the candidates exchanged a series of barbed direct mailings and newspaper ads, with Mr. Palmieri highlighting his opponent's lack of a college degree and Ms. Carlson featuring the endorsement of Sheriff Guy W. Glodis, a political nemesis of Mr. Palmieri.

While the candidates did not differ on most issues, both were well-financed and both mounted well-coordinated get-out-the-vote drives yesterday, marshaling dozens of supporters and using phone bank calls to get voters to polling places.

Mr. Palmieri raised $37,330 and spent two-thirds of his campaign war chest at the end of his campaign. His targeted mailings to voters in the district's neighborhoods touted his efforts on specific issues of interest to them such as traffic in the Burncoat Street and Brittan Square area and community policing on Bell Hill.

Meanwhile, Ms. Carlson raised more than $24,000 - a good portion of it from organized labor - and outspent the incumbent in the campaign's early stages as she tried to build name recognition.

While she led Mr. Palmieri in early returns last night, he pulled away after about half the vote had been counted and maintained his slim lead until all 10 precincts had reported.

After the polls closed at 8 p.m., the 48-year-old challenger said her campaign was hampered by last night's low voter turnout. The turnout in District 2 was 18.6 percent, even lower than the 20 percent citywide turnout. Conventional political wisdom has low turnout favoring incumbents.

"I am very proud of what we did. I think we ran a very effective, clean campaign," she said. "Money wasn't an issue. The voters spoke."

Some in Ms. Carlson's camp criticized Mr. Palmieri's newspaper ads comparing his educational background to hers as negative, and they said they had hoped it would backfire. He noted in the ads that he holds bachelor's and master's degrees and that Ms. Carlson has only a high school diploma.

The incumbent also highlighted his 26 years working in the criminal justice system

and his support for Police Chief Gary G. Gemme as proof of his public safety expertise.

But Ms. Carlson tried to trump those qualifications with the nod from the sheriff.

Ms. Carlson, who is married to Joseph P. Carlson, president of the AFL-CIO-affiliated Central Massachusetts Labor Council, was backed by the firefighters and police officers unions here, and other unions across the state.

She also got active help from members of the Worcester Democratic City Committee.

Mr. Palmieri, while also a registered Democrat, has kept his distance from the committee, saying he has preferred to remain independent. That stance has alienated him from party activists.

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com.

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