Debra Idell was at West Bridgewater Town Hall bright and early the morning after seeing an NBC10 Boston investigation about the Select Board chair.
Day after day, we spotted Anthony Kinahan leaving a home 20 miles away in Braintree.
“I was very unhappy,” Idell told us. “Because people don’t get to pick and choose the rules they want to follow. The people that represent us are supposed to have to deal with the same stuff we deal with every day.”
So that is why Idell marched into the town clerk’s office and put her thoughts in writing. She filed a formal complaint with the town’s Board of Registrars to challenge Kinahan’s status as a registered voter.
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“As a taxpayer and voter in this town, I’m requesting a full investigation into this voter fraud,” Idell’s letter read.
As we reported, Kinahan’s residence had come up prior to the last election during a candidate forum in March 2022. He was asked about selling his West Bridgewater property a few months earlier.
“I’m waiting for the right home for me and when I find it, I’ll buy it,” Kinahan said at the meeting. “In the meantime, I’m still residing in West Bridgewater. That’s all.”
Investigations
On the April ballot, and on nomination paperwork filed with the town, Kinahan listed his address at a home owned by his cousin.
We never saw the selectman at that address, but did spot the homeowner and her family running errands and doing yardwork.
NBC10 visited the home on July 12 and asked if Kinahan lives at the property.
“Yes,” she responded, before asking for a business card and declining to answer other questions.
The undercover video we gathered over the course of several weeks in May and June appears to tell a different story. We observed Kinahan carrying breakfast, taking out the recycling, or sending off his wife as she left for work.
Property records show Kinahan’s wife bought the Braintree home in July 2022, just weeks before the couple got married in Bermuda.
According to a copy of the marriage certificate we obtained, Kinahan listed his address in Dorchester, raising more questions about how long the elected official had potentially lived outside town limits.
“I think it does take voter fraud to another level,” said NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne. “I don’t understand why someone would take such a risk.”
Coyne explained that it is a felony in Massachusetts for an elected official to serve in a community where they don’t reside. He said the Plymouth County District Attorney should launch an investigation.
“You are deceptively getting others in that town to vote for you by claiming a residency that doesn’t exist,” Coyne said. “I would think at a minimum, the district attorney’s office does need to take steps to see if it’s appropriate to move forward with criminal charges.”
Beth Stone, a spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, told us the office is “not involved in the matter.”
Prior to publishing our investigation, Kinahan declined our on-camera interview, but reiterated that he still lived in West Bridgewater. He later dodged our questions at the Braintree home and outside his office in Taunton.
A few hours after our attempt to speak with him in person, Kinahan announced his resignation from the Board of Selectmen. His letter cited “personal reasons” for the decision and made no mention of the questions about his residency.
“This is a big deal because it’s the state law,” said Cynthia McGuigan, a longtime resident.
McGuigan serves on the town’s finance committee and is concerned about the $3,500 annual stipend paid to Kinahan for his role as chair of the Select Board.
We met her outside the West Bridgewater Police Department after she had filed a report, claiming he fraudulently received the money.
“I don’t care if it’s a penny,” McGuigan said. “If he’s not supposed to receive it, he shouldn’t receive it.”
West Bridgewater Police Chief Victor Flaherty said the complaint is currently under review.
Meantime, the Board of Registrars in West Bridgewater is in the process of finding two new members. According to the town clerk, John Cruz and Linda Simpson had been serving, but it turns out they do not qualify because they also sit on a different elected board in town.
Once new members are appointed, the Board of Registrars will come up with a hearing date. Kinahan will receive a summons to appear and provide proof that he lives in West Bridgewater and should remain a registered voter.
Kinahan has not responded to our inquiry about whether he plans to attend that hearing and argue his case.
“If we don’t enforce the laws we have on the books, we can’t complain when everything goes to hell,” Idell said.
Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
