by Charlotte Hazard
The election campaign for a Massachusetts mayoral candidate is facing allegations of bribing residents to vote.
Election officials for the city of Springfield say they witnessed voters being brought to the city hall for early voting and that at least some expected cash after they voted for Democrat candidate Justin Hurst, according to local news outlet The Republican.
Video footage has also been released of a man associated with Hurst’s campaign allegedly handing cash to voters last weekend.
City officials claim in sworn affidavits the distribution of $10 bills, clearly visible in the building’s surveillance footage, represents voter fraud, the news outlet also reports.
Hurst denied all the allegations ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
“Any accusations that my team paid residents in exchange for their vote is unequivocally false,” he said, according to Western Mass News.
He also addressed the video in which a man appears to be handing out cash to voters.
“That gentleman has volunteered on many campaigns,” Hurst stated. “That particular gentleman has spent more time in prison than he spent out, but he is a good man and he’s the individuals I’m fighting for in the city of Springfield. We’re running an election that is inclusive.”
He re-emphasized that his campaign did not pay people for votes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts told Western Mass News that they could not confirm or deny if an investigation was taking place.
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Charlotte Hazard is a 2022 Liberty University alumni who graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in government.
Photo “Alleged Voter Fraud” by MassLive.
