Politics
Election Worker Charged With Taking Kickbacks for Polling Place Jobs
Federal prosecutors said Nicole Torres sold election jobs to Bronx residents for $150 apiece. It is just the most recent smudge on the reputation of the New York City Board of Elections.
A New York City Board of Elections employee in the Bronx was charged with offenses including extortion, bribery and fraud after federal prosecutors said she took kickbacks to place residents in temporary poll-worker jobs.
The defendant, Nicole Torres, an elected district leader and one-time Republican candidate for State Assembly, also forged time sheets for so-called no-show employees, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. She pocketed those salaries with co-conspirators, according to the indictment, which was released Wednesday.
Neither Ms. Torres, who made an initial appearance in court Tuesday, nor her lawyer replied to requests for comment. She did not enter a plea, according to Kristoff Williams, a lawyer at the Federal Defenders of New York.
The charges against Ms. Torres are the most recent in a string of scandals at the long-troubled board, which have included failing to mail out absentee ballots, a botched rollout of the ranked-choice voting system, disenfranchisement of voters and more.
Ms. Torres, 43, has worked for the board since at least 2016. She made $65,430 last year, and has served in various roles including voting machine technician, administrative assistant and clerk to the board, according to records compiled by the Empire Center think tank. She was responsible for monitoring poll workers’ attendance and ensuring they were paid on Election Day and during early-voting periods, according to the indictment.
Poll workers in New York can earn about $2,750 each election cycle if they work all nine early-voting days plus Election Day, according to the indictment.
