Dear Editor:

This week, the two District Attorney candidates in Herkimer County were in Supreme Court regarding challenges to the sufficiency of their respective petitions which allow them to be on the ballot in November.

Those candidates are Assistant District Attorney, Jeffrey Carpenter, and me, Mary Iocovozzi.

Technical challenges are commonplace in election law matters.

Petitioners Charles Patterson challenged signatures on my Democratic Party and Working Families Party petitions.

Petitioner Francesca Capelouto challenged signatures on Mr. Carpenter’s Independence Party and Conservative Party petitions, as well as on the Certificates of Authorization given to Mr. Carpenter.

What made this different is that Mr. Carpenter, himself, additionally claimed illegality of my petitions, alleging (possible criminal) fraud and forged signatures by people who carried petitions for me and the additions of my post office box to my preprinted petitions.

Once in court, the Judge immediately advised his counsel and mine that the judge did not see any fraud or forgery or other wrongdoing which would keep me off the ballot but that Mr. Carpenter could proceed calling witnesses if that’s what he wanted. Mr. Carpenter wanted to proceed and put on a show.

However, significantly, my attorney had subpoeneaed the private investigator and process server into court, so that the witnesses to my petition would be able to talk freely about the abuse they endured without Mr. Carpenter having the ability to object to any of their testimony as hearsay.

After his attorney advised him, Mr. Carpenter chose not to proceed with a trial.

The legal challenges to his petitions were also dropped so that everyone could go home.

After Mr. Carpenter abandoned his lawsuit against me in Court, he questioned my integrity and abilities to serve as a DA because I admitted to adding my PO Box to my preprinted home responsive papers and something he could have found out from the start by simply asking me.

However he proceeded with summoning my volunteer petition carriers to court, despite several people being in their 80’s and several having health problems.

What Mr. Carpenter fails to disclose is that his petitions had over 280 additions to addresses penned in after people signed their names to his petitions and before he filed with the Board of Elections!

This was obvious because the same handwriting was apparent on these address additions in all the petitions that he filed.

He was questioning my abilities to act as a DA when his petitions had three times as many additions as my PO Box addition.

No challenges were made to additions on his petitions because election law clearly allows for these kinds of additions.

In a nutshell, Election Law allows additions to addresses and corrections such as when a signer puts in his/her incorrect township.

Election Law only outlaws changes to the candidate’s name and position sought after someone has signed the petition.

Any other change is a civil matter, and if not successfully challenged within the strict confines of Election Law, of no consequence.

Plenty of petitions with errors are not challenged, and the candidates’ names are put on the ballots.

Had Mr. Carpenter read Election Law before forcing about 20 witnesses to court under penalty of contempt of court, these people would have not missed work or their vacations or be subject to Mr. Carpenter’s process server who many said, banged on their doors and windows, treated them as wrongdoers, threatened them with being in contempt of court, and intimidated them.

Had Mr. Carpenter read Election Law he could have saved himself some money by not hiring a private investigator to question people about my post office box on the petitions.

Does the public want a District Attorney who doesn’t know the law before accusing people of committing illegal acts?

Does the public want a District Attorney who has a different standard for himself?

Does the pubic want a District Attorney who is obsessed with a post office box?

Herkimer County needs a District Attorney who knows the law and will follow it and not make willy nilly criminal accusations against people without the law and the facts to support the accusations.

Being accused is no picnic and usually is wrought with large attorney fees and stress.

Being wrongly accused without the prosecution knowing the facts or the law is an injustice to the person as well as the community.

After all, the first duty of the District Attorney is to do justice.

Getting me kicked off the ballot in November would have allowed Mr. Carpenter to run unopposed for the District Attorney spot.

Mr. Carpenter does not want any opposition in this race particularly with me on the other side.

For too long Herkimer County politics has quashed contested races and makes it difficult for people to run.

This has to stop.

You the voter must decide who you want to serve as your next District Attorney.

I promise justice for all.

Very truly yours,

Mary M. Iocovozzi, Candidate for Herkimer County District Attorney