Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung confirmed an investigation into eight “voting irregularities” involving six individuals from November’s General Election during a press conference at Cranston Police headquarters Thursday morning.

Fung clarified that none of the incidences occurred in the District 15 state representative battle between Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and Republican challenger Steven Frias.

“When the system is taken advantage of, we must confront it head on,” Fung said. “And that is what we are doing here today. Over the course of the past few weeks, as a result of our normal post-election reconciliation of the ballot applications and the due diligence of our canvassing employees, several instances of voting irregularities have been identified from the 2016 elections in Cranston.”

Two of the irregularities were caught just after the General Election by then-registrar Steven Sepe, the son of Democratic candidate for mayor Michael Sepe. The other six were discovered by new registrar Nick Lima in January. 

Fung noted that two people were implicated in multiple cases. Two instances involved non-citizens who were registered in Cranston and cast a vote. One of those non-citizens self-reported the problem.

Two more saw people vote by way of emergency ballot and in person on Nov. 8. Another couple of Cranston residents voted at their polling location and again in only the presidential/vice presidential race at City Hall on the same day. None of the people involved with the alleged infractions were identified.

One case saw a person cast a vote in the April Presidential Primary and November General Election in both Cranston and Providence. The final case revealed an issue of stolen identity, which was used to vote in Providence during a prior election “without their knowledge or consent.”

Fung called for changes to the emergency ballot system, improved training for poll workers and the implementation of e-polling to catch instances of double voting.

“The Secretary of State’s [Nellie Gorbea] office needs to develop a system to prevent non-citizens from registering to vote, catching this act of perjury out front,” Fung said. “Secretary Gorbea absolutely must tighten up this process as the current system of using a Driver’s License or ID number appears to be inadequate.”

Secretary Gorbea responded Thursday afternoon with a statement, including her dedication to the installment of Electronic Poll Books at every polling location in the state by next year. She also acknowledged H5700, her legislation to “replace the existing emergency mail ballot process with a significantly improved early in-person voting system.”

“Anyone who breaks the law should be held accountable and I expect these allegations to be fully investigated,” Gorbea said. “I am committed to ensuring that elections are fair, fast and accurate in Rhode Island.”

Gorbea closed her statement by inviting Fung and any other concerned Rhode Islanders to the next meeting of the Elections Task Force on March 8 at the Francis J. Varieur School in Pawtucket. 

Mayor Fung and Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist both said that the investigation should be turned over to the Attorney General’s office within the next two to three weeks.