Jimmy Meng

There's a new local race to watch in Flushing, where Grace Meng, daughter of former Assemblyman Jimmy Meng, has announced she will run for her father’s old seat.

The seat is now held by Ellen Young, who won it when the elder Meng left after one term, citing health problems. The younger Meng ran then, but abandoned her campaign when Young challenged her residency status.  read more »

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown's office just released more information about the Jimmy Meng aide charged in the voter fraud case. The 36 people whose voter information was allegedly fudged by the aide, Simon Ting, didn't actually vote. But Ting still faces up to four years in jail.

Interestingly, the DA said that there was a "watch list" of suspect voters, meaning the office had been monitoring this situation since before the 2004 election.  read more »

In a brief conversation yesterday, Ting's lawyer, John Theodorellis, told me his client pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown's office just released more information about the Jimmy Meng aide charged in the voter fraud case. The 36 people whose voter information was fudged by the aide, Simon Ting, didn't actually vote. But Ting still faces up to four years in jail.

What's interesting is that the DA said there was a "watch list" of suspect voters, meaning they had been monitoring this situation since before that 2004 election. So patient these prosecutors.

In a brief conversation yesterday, Ting's lawyer, John Theodorellis, told me his client pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

From the DA:

District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, detectives assigned to his Detective Bureau identified thirty-six voter registration filings made by the defendant between May 28, 2004, and August 20, 2004, which indicated that the individuals registering to vote resided within the 22nd Assembly District. In fact, according to the complaint, the individuals either did not live within the district or only worked there. In many cases, the forms allegedly had the original address or phone number whited-out or had been filled out in the defendant's own handwriting. The inserted addresses noted on the forms included 137-27 Geranium Avenue - the defendant's home address at the time - and 135-29 Roosevelt Avenue - the site of Chung Hwa Books, which is owned by Assemblyman Meng. Both addresses allegedly allowed the defendant the opportunity to receive any mailings on their behalf. In most cases, it is alleged, the individuals had signed the registration forms after attending a banquet for a primary candidate or after being approached on the street. The District Attorney noted that all 36 registrations were placed on a watch list before the primary election and that none of the people voted or attempted to vote and that the registrations were subsequently cancelled by the Board of Elections. The investigation did not uncover any evidence that anyone other than the defendant participated in the scheme.

-- Azi Paybarah

Two years after Jimmy Meng narrowly defeated incumbent Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik by less than 200 votes on his way to becoming the first Asian-American state lawmaker, an aide to Meng has surrendered to the Queens District Attorney on charges that he faked voter registration documents.

According to a spokesman for the Queens DA Richard Brown, the aide, 42-year-old Simon Ting, surrendered to authorities earlier today and is going to be arraigned with a Class E Felony in relation to at least 36 fraudulent voter registration forms.

Ting, who was an administrative aide to Meng up until December 31st, 2006, allegedly used his own home address in Flushing in order to register 17 voters and used a bookstore owned by Meng as the home address for dozens of other voters, according to Brown's spokesman.

The spokesman also said it appeared that Ting acted alone and without the cooperation of Meng, who did not stand for re-election and was succeeded this year by Ellen Young.

There had been questions about voting irregularities immediately following the election, but when the DA's office looked into the matter at the time, they were careful to refer to their actions as a review and not an investigation.

Update: Jimmy Meng, Ting's former employer, released the following statement:

While I am sad to hear of today's news, it is important to note that it had no impact on my 2004 victory which we all worked hard for. In addition, our community is forever grateful for Simon's love and concern for the community. We should not discount that fact that he has dedicated the last few years in serving and working hard for everyone in the community.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a funny thing: two most prominent insurgent candidates for state office this year, Grace Meng and Ken Diamondstone were both endorsed by the Working Families Party and have both faced residency challenges.

Last week, Meng withdrew her candidacy from the race to replace her father, Jimmy Meng, in a Queens Assembly district -- supposedly in anticipation of a residency related challenge. Diamondstone, currently facing his own challenge in court today, will soon learn if he will fall prey to the same technicality.

We asked WFP spokesperson Alex Navarro about this curious phenomenon:

Politicians without a strong reservoir of support in their communities will go to extremes to keep off other candidates that have a base. As a longtime activist, Ken Diamondstone has a strong progressive base in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Of course Marty Connor is going to pull every trick out his Election Lawyer's hat to keep Ken off the ballot.

We're counting on the courts taking a realistic approach and leaning in the direction of the First Amendment interest in the lively debate this race promises on the best way to deliver affordable housing, better-funded schools, universal health care and more transparent, open and democratic government.

Doesn't exactly answer the question, but at least it sounds good.

—Nicole Brydson

John Liu has sent out a press release that we sort of wanted to read!

For Immediate Release May 2, 2006 Sent via Internet

*** Statement ***

************************************************** CM LIU ON ASSEMBLYMEMBER MENG **************************************************

City Hall, NY - Council Member John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about reports that Assemblyman Jimmy Meng will not run for re-election to the New York State Assembly:

"The community thanks Jimmy Meng for his service and I wish him well in his future endeavors. The people of Flushing look forward to a positive and undoubtedly spirited campaign season in the months ahead. We encourage everyone to run. In the end, democracy will produce the best result for the community."

CM Liu does not intend to run for the seat (State Assembly, District 22 - Flushing), but will take an active role in the campaign for the seat. Assemblyman Meng and his daughter Grace have met repeatedly with CM Liu to discuss their campaign plans and to ask for CM Liu to support Ms. Meng. Several other individuals have also met with CM Liu to solicit his support for their campaign for the same position.