Sara Rivera, appointed by the Cambridge City Manager to replace Tom Stohlman as a Democratic Party member of the Board of Election Commissioners earlier this month, was not a registered Democrat at the time of her appointment. Party membership is a state law requirement for the members of the commission at the time of appointment.
Neither the Cambridge Democratic City Committee nor the City Manager verified Rivera’s party status as part of the nomination and appointment process.
Rivera’s registration changed from registered Democrat to Unenrolled in any Party in 2023, at the same time as her middle name on her registration changed to her middle initial, I. Rivera voted in the Democratic primary in 2024, as she had done previously while registered as a Democrat.
Rivera Wednesday morning referred questions to Tanya Ford, the executive director of Cambridge’s Election Department. Ford did not respond to inquiries.
“We have since learned that when Ms. Rivera updated her voter registration online in 2023 to reflect a name change, her party enrollment appears to have been inadvertently removed,” said Lee Gianetti, a spokesman for the city. “Prior to that change, she had been a registered Democrat since at least 1996, as confirmed through the state’s Voter Registration Information System (VRIS). She has now updated her registration to correctly reflect her longstanding affiliation with the Democratic Party.”
“This appears to have been an issue related to the 2023 update and has now been corrected. It does not affect her appointment,” he said.
At the Election Commission’s annual organizational meeting Wednesday evening, Charlie Marquardt (R) was appointed as Chairman; Rivera (D) as Vice Chair; Ethridge King (R) as Secretary; and Larry Ward (D) as Assistant Secretary. There was no discussion of Rivera’s eligibility issues.
“We noted the candidate qualifications at the public meeting so all of the candidates were aware of them,” said George Varghese, chair of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee.
Varghese said that the CDCC will look into the issue.
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