NY Councilman Rev Ruben Diaz Sr alleges disenfranchisement at Assembly District 84
Councilman Rev Ruben Diaz Sr has alleged that the voters of Assembly district 84 were disenfranchised all because of a gross technicality and error committed by Board of Elections and not the voters.
This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday August 12, 2020.
Rev Diaz stated that the voters of Assembly District 84, went out and exercised their rights to vote as American Citizens, living in liberty, and Democracy and overwhelmingly voted for the person they wanted to represent them.
“Again, Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo won! She did so with 4,354 votes while Amanda Septimo lost acquiring a mere 2,290 votes.
“On this occasion the vote of the people is being ignored.
“You should know that the Hon. Carmen Arroyo, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the New York State Assembly, was re-elected with the majority of the votes,” Rev Diaz said.
Diaz added that the Assemblywoman will not be able to return to the Assembly due to the regulations of the New York Board of Elections and the law.
He said Arroyo won re-election with double the amount of votes as Septimo.
“Yet, surprisingly, the obvious loser of this election, Amanda Septimo, will be representing the residents of Assembly District # 84 in the county of the Bronx, inspite of the fact, that Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo was obviously elected by the people of said district.
“This is scandalous, and not representative of a government “For the people, By the people”. The people chose their elected representative, but the people’s rights, and voices are being silenced,” observed Diaz.
Diaz said this was all as a result of gross errors committed by the Board of Elections, which he said was forfeiting the election results because they had eliminated Assemblywoman Arroyo due to a technical error made by Arroyo’s campaign when submitting her petitions.
“What was this grave error you might ask? They accuse Arroyo of submitting petitions with the wrong date on which the signatures were collected as a result she was disqualified as a candidate.
Diaz stated that the Board of Elections should have removed her name from appearing on the ballots on the day of the elections.
“But life has a way of handing out surprises!!! The same Board of Elections that disqualified Assemblywoman Arroyo’s candidacy and eliminated her from running for re-election mistakenly failed to remove her name from the ballots.
“On election day when the voters, completely unaware of the technicality, went to the polls and surprise, surprise they found their candidate of choice and voted for her in larger numbers over her challenger Ms. Amanda Septimo,” said Diaz.
Diaz said the voters of the 84th Assembly District in Bronx county, having been disenfranchised and silenced, are now forced to be represented by an individual they don’t know and did not vote for.
He said Arroyo on the other hand, whom the voters of the 84 assembly district knew too well, would be forced to move on.
By Moses Kuwema
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