Ballot Brawl: Cara's Crusade for Justice in NY's Rigged System
Ballot Brawl: Cara's Crusade for Justice in NY's Rigged System
Grassroots US Senate Candidate Cara Castronuova Challenges GOP Corruption, Asserts Rights in NY Ballot Fight
By Richard Luthmann
Highlighting deep-seated issues with the New York electoral process, grassroots US Senate candidate Cara Castronuova is battling against what she perceives as a corrupt GOP establishment. This conflict has escalated into a legal fray as Castronuova strives to secure her position on the June 25 Republican Primary ballot, opposing Michael Sapriacone, a candidate she decries as a "Republican in Name Only" (RINO) who supports Democrat Letitia James.
Allegations of GOP Manipulation and Election Fraud
Castronuova accuses the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE) and specific GOP figures, including the Queens County GOP Chair, of using deceptive tactics to exclude her from the ballot. She argues that these actions undermine her campaign and infringe upon her constitutional rights and those of her supporters.
"Ballot Access candidates in our electoral framework...serve as the standard bearers for the fundamental free speech, association, and voting rights of their supporters. These rights, when abridged, demand the utmost scrutiny and the law’s fullest protection," her legal documents forcefully state.
She has launched a series of counterclaims and crossclaims, described as "timely, defensive, and statutory," aimed at countering attempts to invalidate her candidacy unjustly. Castronuova claims she is simply “punching back” while her efforts are improperly thwarted.
"This argument forms a significant pillar in our case for the timeliness of the counterclaims and crossclaims," her filings explain, asserting the legal grounding for her response to serious election law violations.
The Constitutional Battleground
Castronuova's counterclaims extend beyond mere electoral participation, touching upon essential constitutional issues. She accuses the GOP establishment of violating the First Amendment, voting rights, and equal protection rights through its manipulation of electoral procedures.
"The NYSBOE Has Declared ‘Rules For Thee And Not For Me’ – Fundamentally Violating Candidate Castronuova and Her Supporters’ First Amendment, Voting, and Equal Protection Rights," her filings articulate, highlighting the perceived hypocrisy in election law enforcement.
Her fight emphasizes defending democratic principles: "We rejected the letter purportedly transmitted on ‘April 23, 2023’ as legally invalid for notice purposes for the Hearing. The transmission is Prima Facie invalid, inconsistent with NYSBOE rules, and legally defective for all purposes."
Her legal declaration underscores specific instances where she believes the Board has failed to adhere to its regulations, potentially compromising the integrity of the electoral process. And some experts agree.
“In the hyper-technical world of election petitions, even the smallest irregularity can disqualify hundreds of otherwise valid signatures. If the Board [of Elections] is going to claim their own ministerial errors are ignorable, they shouldn’t get too surprised if the Court holds them to that standards and allows hundreds of signatures back on to Cara’s petition,” said a prominent New York Democratic consultant who wishes to remain unnamed.
“The fact that the Board of Elections has a clairvoyant in their midst is stunning. Particularly because the Board has historically been to dumping ground for politicians’ ‘ne’er do well’ family members,” the consultant said.
Punching Back: Counterclaims and Crossclaims
Castronuova's approach to what she terms "LAWFARE" by her opponents is to launch defensive legal actions to assert her rights. Her legal strategy involves filing counterclaims and crossclaims directly responding to the challenges raised against her candidacy.
"For claims to be properly before the Court in an election law proceeding, they must be timely commenced, filed, and served within the applicable statute of limitations."
Castronuova says that establishing case law bolsters her position because she is acting defensively.
“We always have a chance to punch back. That is our right, and the Counterclaim is timely here because it is the only counterclaim that can lie against an election law proceeding to invalidate – a counterclaim to validate," her documents state.
Castronuova says she has a statutory right to have her defensive legal moves “relate back” to the day her opponents served her in the Election Law case.
“Counterclaims are deemed timely if they were timely when the complaint was initially brought (CPLR 203 [d]), and are said to 'relate back' to the original claim.” her papers say.
Her opponents say not so fast. They believe Castronuova’s actions are outside of the legal time to file pleadings established by law.
"Election Law §16-102(2) provides two separate and distinct statutes of limitations for filing petitions (or claims) to validate a petition," attorneys for Sapriacone and the objector wrote, claiming Castronuova missed both windows.
Castronuova disagrees. She says she is uniquely positioned as a ballot-access candidate representing her supporters and their constitutional rights.
"What about when a Candidate is in a posture of self-defense from LAWFARE? This becomes a third class of validator claims—those served in direct response to an invalidator by an opposing candidate or their supporters…The Legislature never intended the strict 14-day Statute of Limitations because it brushes far too closely against a Candidate and the voters' associational and equal protection rights," the papers say.
Castronuova believes the plain statutory language cements the legality of her claims.
"Under the language of the Election law read in concert with Article 4 of the CPLR, I have the strongest argument that my existing validator claims are good and timely.
Claims of Forgery and Malfeasance
Castronuova has also raised serious allegations of forgery and improper conduct within the NYSBOE. She asserts that these actions are part of a broader attempt to undermine her candidacy and subvert the democratic process by denying voters a legitimate choice.
One of the most significant claims involves John F. Haggerty Jr., whose controversial past and current activities have drawn scrutiny.
Castronuova’s legal papers insist, "The Court must hear from John F. Haggerty Jr., a felon previously jailed for defrauding Michael Bloomberg of $750,000 and under investigation for election fraud and forgery related to the 2022 gubernatorial campaign."
This demand highlights their belief that Haggerty’s involvement is central to understanding the scope and nature of the alleged electoral fraud and its connection to the GOP establishment and her opponent, Michael Sapriacone.
Castronuova's filings suggest that Haggerty, representing the interests of the Queens GOP, has been instrumental in submitting forged objections against her designating petitions. These actions are part of a calculated effort to leverage his political influence to disrupt her campaign, she says.
Criminalist Grace Warmbier's forensic document analysis suggests that the signatures on general objections were likely fraudulent. Based on her decade of experience at the NYPD Police Laboratory, Warmbier's methodology and conclusions are usually never in question.
“[Expert] Warmbier's analysis concluded that the signatures on the general objection submitted by Nunziato and Aliviado ‘HIGHLY PROBABLY WAS NOT WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR,’ further casting a shadow over the integrity of Sapriacone's campaign and its associates,” Castronuova’s papers say.
Sapriacone has not addressed the claims of collusion and forgery. However, in filed affidavits, Nunziato and Aliviado claimed that their signatures were real, raising questions about whether or not the pair committed perjury in sworn court statements, Castronuova claims.
Questions also persist about whether Sapriacone was aware of Haggerty's role in handling the BOE objections before they were submitted to Albany. Castronuova wants an opportunity to question Sapriacone, Nunziato, Aliviado, and Haggerty.
“We want to question Sapriacone, Nunziato, and Aliviado to ascertain whether the ‘Queens Machine’ were directly or indirectly involved in dishonest collusion to exclude an Asian Female Republican candidate from the ballot,” the papers say.
If proven, the forgery allegations detail a ballot access system susceptible to exploitation by well-connected individuals.
Moreover, the claims extend beyond individual malfeasance to implicate the NYSBOE's systems and processes. Castronuova argues that the integrity of the Board's procedures is compromised, evidenced by what she describes as a pattern of biased decision-making and irregularities in handling her candidacy.
Demanding Neutral Oversight
Recognizing potential biases within the electBoard'sard's decision-making, Castronuova has called for judicial intervention to ensure a fair process.
She writes, "We demand that this Court immediately order an independent review by a neutral and disinterested Special Master," seeking an impartial review of the Board's decisions concerning her candidacy.
This move is part of her broader critique of a system she argues is rigged against outsider candidates and reformers.
Castronuova’s legal battle represents a significant challenge to the integrity of New York’s electoral system. Her struggle highlights substantial questions about fairness and transparency in elections and the judiciary's role in upholding or undermining democratic norms.
This battle is not merely about one candidate's inclusion on the ballot but about the principles governing democratic participation in New York.
Castronuova remains a ballot access candidate under New York Election Law. The NYSBOE is expected to toss her from the ballot later today. While she has a pending case in Albany County, New York State Supreme Court, if the NYSBOE aggrieves her, she may file an additional state court petition to be restored to the primary ballot.
Castronuova also has a pending case in Brooklyn Federal Court addressing the constitutional burdens of the New York process on ballot access and voter rights.
https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2021/08/trial-by-combat-lawyer-richard-luthmann-released-from-federal-custody.html