Six weeks before the Sept. 6 primary, the town clerk’s office was swamped with absentee ballot requests.

By Aug. 1, 445 applications for absentee ballots had been filed here – four times the amount requested during the last town election and 115 more than in Springfield’s 2011 primary, according to records reviewed by The Republican.

The surge in applications, combined with high number of Democrats switching to the Republican Party, triggered a voting fraud investigation that has left town officials stunned and searching for answers.

“People are shocked – this isn’t Chicago or bloody-knuckled Philadelphia,” said three-term Selectman James D. Driscoll, adding the town is abuzz with theories and speculation about a suspected ballot-tampering attempt.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/08/east_longmeadows_absentee_ball.html