LYNN – Ward 4 city council candidate Ariana Murrell-Rosario has filed another objection with the Lynn City Clerk’s office, this time seeking to have six candidates removed from September’s preliminary ballot.”It would be in her best interest to run a campaign rather than try and get people off the ballot,” said Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci, whose nomination papers Murrell-Rosario is objecting to for the second time, along with four other city council candidates plus a school committee hopeful.Murrell-Rosario claims that School Committee incumbent Rick Starbard, City Council incumbents Darren Cyr, William Trahant and Colucci along with candidate Paul Crowley’s nomination papers show a “consistent pattern” of being backdated “prior to being filed at the election’s office and after the deadline for certification.”Incumbent Brendan Crighton, who is campaigning for a council at large seat, faces the possibility of being tripped up by a red felt-tipped pen. Murrell-Rosario noted that Crighton’s statement of candidacy, signature and petition statement were all written with a red felt-tipped marker and were notarized June 20 by clerk Mary Gokas.”However, because his statement of candidacy is signed with the same marker as was used for filling out his nomination papers, it is reasonable to conclude that there is a strong possibility that this candidate’s signature on his statement of candidacy was not sworn and subscribed in front on the notary,” reads the complaint.Crighton said he is confident that he followed election law and will be on the ballot in September. He said he is working with constituents to move the city forward.Starbard was more blunt.”She is full of it,” he said.Starbard said when he turned in his initial batch of nomination papers, Head Clerk Debra Ginivan asked if at least one page had been notarized. He said he had forgotten, took the papers back and turned to leave.”I was going to take them to my insurance agent to have him notarize them,” he said.But Ginivan told him another clerk, Mary Gokas, was a notary and could do the job for him.”And that was weeks before the deadline, so I know she’s full of it,” he said.Cyr had a similar reaction.”That is completely false,” he said. “That is 100 percent untrue ? I can tell you who notarized them, (City Clerk) Mary Audley notarized them.”Cyr said he turned his papers in more than a week in advance of the June 28 deadline and everything was in order.”We encourage people to run (for office) but unfortunately you have people like this that come out and do what they do,” he said. “I personally got 90 percent of my signatures. I made sure I dropped them off early. If she’s challenging them, fine.”Crowley also stood by his paperwork.”This is crazy,” he said. “The purpose, in my mind, of being notarized would be to validate the signature and prove that candidate is who he or she says they are, not to meet Ariana’s standards.”Crowley accused Murrell-Rosario of thwarting the democratic process and said that is what he finds most troubling. He said each candidate collects signatures from residents that want to see them on the ballot, and she is trying to block that.”This is kind of hindering the whole democratic process in my view,” he said.City attorney Vincent Phelan said he had received word that Murrell-Rosario had filed another round of objections but he had yet to see the paperwork. He said the Law Department would review the complaint once it is received.He also noted that Colucci has filed a counter objection to Murrell-Rosario’s nomination papers. Colucci reiterated that he does not believe the signatures, under the law, need to be notarized but if Murrell-Rosario is going to insist they do, than she needs to play by the same rules.Under the law Murrell-Rosario is quoting, “you have to have at least 50 signatures on the page you are going to have notarized, and she does not have that,” he said. “You are trying to make everything about being notarized and you don’t have
