A judge on Friday rejected Brockton mayoral candidate Jean Bradley Derenoncourt’s request to delay Monday’s swearing-in of Moise Rodrigues as the city’s new mayor.
Derenoncourt, who lost to Rodrigues by 259 votes in the November election, filed a request in Plymouth Superior Court on December 30th seeking the ceremony be put on hold and requested a change of venue in his lawsuit against the city.
The judge rejected both requests.
Derenoncourt has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming fraud in the November 4th election.
According to the Enterprise, Derenoncourt has accused Rodrigues’s supporters of coercing Cape Verdean and elderly voters at the polls and says he has video surveillance to prove it.
Rodrigues has denied those accusations.
Derenoncourt also claims that during last month’s recount, his team witnessed numerous absentee ballots with missing signatures or signatures that appeared to be the same.
The Derenoncourt-requested recount found that he lost to Rodrigues by 259 votes, one vote less than results from election night.
A status hearing on Derenocourt’s lawsuit is scheduled for January 14th at 2 p.m. in Plymouth Superior Court.