Suit Challenges Vote which Saw Mayor Recalled, Re-elected

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A lawsuit is challenging a special election in which embattled Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia was both recalled and re-elected.

The Boston Globe reports the suit filed Tuesday by 10 residents seeks to invalidate the unusual outcome of the March 12 election that kept Correia in office though a majority of voters wanted him removed.

The 27-year-old Democrat was indicted last year on tax and fraud charges related to an app he developed.

More than 60 percent voted to recall the mayor. But a separate part of the ballot asked voters who should replace him and Correia topped a list of five candidates with about 35 percent of the vote.

The lawsuit says once recalled, Correia shouldn’t have been eligible for re-election and asks that second-place finisher Paul Coogan be declared mayor.