Election Worker Charged With Taking Kickbacks for Polling Place Jobs

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.





https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/nyregion/bronx-election-polls-worker-bribe.html