FBI meets with Springfield Election Commissioner weeks after claims of voter fraud

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The FBI was in Springfield Thursday meeting with the city’s election commissioner. This meeting comes just weeks after claims of voter fraud surfaced.

Although the city won’t confirm what Thursday’s meeting with the FBI was about, the election commissioner was the primary whistle blower for claims of voter fraud within the Hurst campaign.

“Obviously, we are pleased that someone is investigating the issues of voter fraud, if that’s what they were there for, because that is something that we think is so serious and so important that we want this investigated,” said City Solicitor John Payne.

Springfield Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola-Lopez met with the FBI Thursday. The commissioner was one of five election workers that provided sworn affidavits that detailed the suspicious voting activity.

This all started on Saturday, October 28th when election workers reported suspicious activity to Secretary of State William Galvin. Activity that was also caught on camera outside City Hall. Security cameras captured car loads of people being driven to City Hall to vote and a campaign volunteer for City Councilor Justin Hurst allegedly paying some of these people.

Election workers said in the affidavits that some of these voters appeared intoxicated and listed their address as a homeless shelter; they also were asking where they could get their $10 payment.

Payne said since the investigation is ongoing, he can not provide specifics about Thursday’s meeting, but is pleased to see law enforcement is interested in getting to the bottom of these allegations.

City Councilor Justin Hurst was not available for comment, but called these allegations a coordinated smear campaign when they surfaced about a week before the election, “Accusations that my team paid residents in exchange for their vote is unequivocally false and nothing more than a last minute smear campaign.”

22News reached out to the FBI to get additional information about Thursday’s meeting and they declined to comment. On a local level, the Hampden District Attorney’s office will not confirm or deny if they are conducting any investigations on the matter.