East Longmeadow fills vacant Selectmen spots

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) - East Longmeadow voters cast their ballots for two races in special election Tuesday night. One of those races had an element of controversy.

One of the races was to fill Jack Villamaino's seat on the Board of Selectmen. His name has been at the center of a voter fraud scandal since August.

Debra Boronski was the only name on the ballot to fill that seat through April of 2014. And She won, beating back a write-in campaign. Boronski received 985 votes. All write-in's got 636 votes.

The second special election was to fill retired selectman Jim Driscoll's position.

The Clerk's office says Peter Punderson won that seat, but he only won by 12 votes. Punderson received 836 votes and Thorpe received 824 votes.

It's possible that Angela Thorpe will ask for a recount.

Assistant East Longmeadow Town Clerk Margaret Larocca told 22News that Thorpe has ten days to file a "recount petition," if she chooses to.

Jack Villamaino resigned when police started investigating him for voter fraud when he was running for State Representative.

This summer, hundreds of residents had their party affiliation changed without their consent... and absentee ballots were requested on their behalf without their knowledge.

Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said at Villamaino's arraignment in October, Villamaino had planned on filling out and casting those ballots for himself in the State Representative Race.

Villamaino pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of absentee voter fraud in October. He could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted.

Voter turnout Tuesday night was just over 15%.