Brooklyn’s 49th State Assembly District race is heating up, as the competition between the incumbent Republican State Assemblyman Lester Chang and Democratic challenger Joyce Xiaoqiong Xie has escalated from community mobilization to legal and procedural battles. The clash between the two candidates regarding the designating petitions has now extended to the realms of law and litigation, with the cases simultaneously advancing in both the New York City Board of Elections and the court.
According to court documents, three residents of the district aligned with Joyce Xiaoqiong Xie filed a lawsuit in the state court on April 15th, challenging the signature petitions submitted by Lester Chang, involving a total of 12 petition forms. The lawsuit alleges that some signatures were not personally written, some signatories were not registered voters, and even instances of apparent identical handwriting, casting doubt on the authenticity of the signatures.
The lawsuit also points out various procedural issues in multiple documents, including potential false statements by witnesses, missing or incorrect dates and addresses, duplicate signatures, discrepancies in witness qualifications, as well as alterations in the documents without proper annotations, raising suspicions of signature copying or post-signing adjustments in the absence of the witness.
The court has already accepted the related cases and scheduled a hearing for next Thursday, April 23rd, at 10 a.m.
Joyce Xiaoqiong Xie, in an interview, mentioned that the case is currently in the administrative review stage of the Board of Elections. Disputes over signatures are typically first inspected by the Board of Elections to verify if the signatures and voter information comply with regulations. In cases involving issues like similar handwriting or potential forgery, it may then proceed to the court for a judicial decision.
According to her account, Lester Chang’s campaign submitted a “general objection” to her petitions to the New York City Board of Elections on April 2nd and further detailed challenges to all her signature petitions (4 forms) on April 8th. Subsequently, Joyce Xiaoqiong Xie’s team lodged counter-objections on April 6th and initiated legal procedures to safeguard the opportunity for appeal in case of an unfavorable ruling by the Board of Elections.
Regarding the legal actions, Joyce Xiaoqiong Xie described it as a response to the Republican Party’s “preemptive challenge.”
She said that the Board of Elections began reviewing her signature petitions last week, a process that typically takes about a week but depends on the complexity of the case and staffing arrangements. A preliminary decision is expected to be reached soon.
As per the procedure, if either party is dissatisfied with the Board of Elections’ ruling, it will further advance to the court proceedings.
In response to the allegations, Lester Chang’s campaign swiftly counterattacked, pointing out that the opposition made a “wholesale denial” of his 2167 signature petitions, seeking their complete invalidation, which they deemed unreasonable.
His campaign team stated that historically, signature reviews have focused on individual signatures with technical assessments, and a blanket denial of all signatures is “extremely rare”. Additionally, the opposition did not specify the individual signature issues but demanded the Board of Elections disqualify Lester Chang based on that, raising questions about their motives.
In a statement, Lester Chang expressed, “We respect the electoral process and will lawfully uphold the voters’ right to express themselves. These signatures, collected by volunteers going door-to-door, are the result of voters’ voluntary endorsement. We have an ample number of signatures and are confident they will withstand legal and factual scrutiny.”
Brooklyn Conservative Party Executive Director Diana Zhongqi also mentioned that volunteers collected signatures by going house to house in cold weather, and a complete dismissal of the efforts disrespects voter participation. A Republican Party spokesperson also emphasized that they will safeguard the validity of signature petitions through legal procedures.