Candidate Accused of Signature Fraud Booted from D.C. Ballot

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Board of Elections in the nation’s capital has removed a city council candidate accused of fraud from the November ballot.

The Washington Post reports the board ordered Monday that 63-year-old S. Kathryn Allen be removed. Incumbent council member Elissa Silverman had accused the first-time candidate’s campaign of signature fraud.

The board upheld Silverman’s request to disqualify signatures by circulators who denied collecting signatures for Allen. It also disqualified signatures apparently copied from another candidate’s petition sheets, leaving Allen with hundreds less than the required 3,000 signatures.

It says the fraud allegations will be sent to the attorney general for investigation. An Allen spokeswoman says Allen won’t appeal and blames a firm hired to collect signatures. The firm, Strategies for Change Group, hasn’t responded to the newspaper’s request for comment.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com