Brooklyn Ballot Fraud Probe Unfolds as Council Race Hangs on 32 Votes

Kings County GOP chair Richie Barsamian, who appoints Board of Election staff, trails in a tight race now under probe by the Brooklyn DA.

Originally published by THE CITY on July 28, 2025 at 3:00pm EDT

The Board of Elections is moving to certify results Tuesday in a tightly contested Brooklyn Republican City Council primary even as a criminal probe of alleged vote fraud proceeds.

At least 27 ballots are under investigation in Brooklyn’s 47th City Council District, where a razor-thin 32-vote margin separates MAGA candidate George Sarantopoulous and county Republican party chair Richie Barsamian, who are competing for the seat to be vacated by term-limited Justin Brannan.

The New York City Board of Elections announced last week that it had launched an internal probe and referred the matter to the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, after discovering absentee ballots cast in the names of two deceased individuals and one elderly voter who says he hasn’t voted in a primary in decades.

“I don’t know who my father’s ballot was cast in favor of, but whoever did it seemed to have access to the voter list,” said Justin Allen, son of 87-year-old Bay Ridge resident William Allen, who had not voted in a primary election in decades but had a ballot fraudulently cast in his name in the primary.

It is unclear who the fraudulent ballots were cast for in the Bay Ridge and Coney Island council race, where Sarantopoulous leads Barsamian by just 32 votes. Barsamian’s position as party chair allows him to appoint Board of Elections workers, and according to sources familiar with the situation, the phones and home computers of multiple Board of Elections workers in the district have been seized by law enforcement. 

The two separate instances of voter fraud currently being investigated include 22 paper ballots from Coney Island’s Amalgamated Warbasse Houses that were not counted, and three absentee ballots, the one cast in Allen’s name and two in the names of deceased individuals.

Allen’s son said he received a cure notice from the Board of Elections on June 3 stating that William’s ballot was invalid due to the absence of a voter affirmation envelope.

“We asked him multiple times if he wanted to vote this year, and he said no, so we ripped up the ballot. After we got the cure notice, we were told his ballot had already been corrected,” said Allen.

Brannan, who ran and lost in the primary race for city comptroller, said that the total number of fraudulent ballots is not yet known.

“What’s most concerning is that if this Republican primary weren’t so close, we probably wouldn’t have known about this. And if there’s two ballots cast for deceased voters, there’s probably more,” said Brannan.

The Board of Elections declined to comment Monday. In announcing the investigation Friday, board spokesperson Vincent Ignizio said in a statement that the Brooklyn commissioners on the board voted to invalidate all 22 questionable ballots and refer the matter to Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez for further investigation. 

“We commend the dedicated staff of the Brooklyn Office of the Board of Elections and our legal team for their professionalism, diligence, and long hours in uncovering and addressing these matters,” Ignizio said.

“We don’t know if the person who perpetrated this fraud was instructed to do it, or just hoping that Barsamian would look favorably on them if they pulled this off,” said Brannan.

Democratic nominee for the district Kayla Santousso told THE CITY that, after hearing from Justin Allen about his father’s ballot, her campaign discovered the two ballots cast for deceased individuals and notified the Board of Elections about the issue.

“This kind of fraud erodes trust in free and fair elections, and has huge implications for the general election in November. It can’t be ignored that the Barsamian was on the ballot, and that he makes political appointments to the Board of Elections,” said Santousso, who won the district’s Democratic primary with 80% of the vote.

Barsamian did not respond to a request for comment.