The mysterious and unconventional campaign of Yolanda Garcia--a 13th Congressional District candidat...

1. Anti-Espaillat candidate alleges 'warehousing' of voters
The mysterious and unconventional campaign of Yolanda Garcia--a 13th Congressional District
candidate who seems intent on undermining State Senator Adriano Espaillat's campaign, rather than
winning any votes for herself--has filed a complaint with the city's Board of Elections accusing
Espaillat supporters of "warehousing voters" at their home addresses.
A copy of the June 19 letter Garcia's campaign manager, Richard Soto, sent to the B.O.E. was
forwarded to Capital by another lawyer.
In the letter, Soto says he wants "an investigation into the bizarre submission of Adriano Espaillat's
designating petitions," which he says have "an astonishingly abundant [number] of registered voters
in the same address."
Soto's letter was forwarded to the offices of the Manhattan district attorney, the state attorney
general and the city Department of Investigation, which is standard practice for allegations like this,
said Michael Ryan, the executive director of the city Board of Elections.
"Any allegation of voter fraud are reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for further
review," Ryan said in an interview.
A lawyer who is supportive of Rep. Charlie Rangel said Soto may not be a credible candidate, but
suggested the allegations may be, citing a former associate of Espaillat, Nelson Castro, who federal
prosecutors previously accused of a similar conduct.
Castro once served as Espaillat's chief of staff before winning an Assembly seat, which he later gave
up, after he was caught in a scheme to illegally register voters.
An Espaillat campaign spokeswoman, Chelsea Connor, said, "This letter is a distraction from a
desperate campaign looking to take away from the real concerns raised regarding the BOE in Juan

2. Gonzalez's column today," referring to a report that the B.O.E. reduced the number of Spanish-
language interpreters ahead of the June 24 primary.
An Espaillat aide said people identified in the Soto letter may have been registered years earlier and
simply never taken off the rolls by the B.O.E., and noted that, under state law, a voter doesn't have
to physically reside at the address where they are registered to vote.
Soto, the man who filed the complaint, said in a brief interview he spent "months" researching this
information. He declined to say what money his candidate has raised, or spent, but denied
accusations from Espaillat supporters that he is being helped in any way by the Rangel campaign.
Asked about Garcia's campaign finances, Soto said, "You're barking up the wrong tree. You should
be applauding the effort of grassroots operations."
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Author: Azi Paybarah follow this reporter
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