Brian Lerer on WNYC, a new WNYC and Gothamist investigation has uncovered dozens of apparent forgeries among the signatures submitted to get Mayor Eric Adams

on the November ballot as an independent candidate. To run after the Democratic primary this year,

the mayor's campaign turned in nearly 50,000 signatures from voters across the city,

far more than the 7,500 required. But this WNYC and Gothamist investigation by our guests today, our colleagues

David Brand, Clayton Guza, and Bridget Bergen found that at least 52 of those signatures

were fake. Some belonged to people who say they never signed. Others belonged to people who are

dead. And in several buildings, residents said most of the names listed from their addresses were falsified.

Some New Yorkers also said they were misled into signing without being told the petitions were for Adams.

The campaign hired multiple firms to gather signatures, including one run by consultants who had worked on national political campaigns

and who had previously been accused of using deceptive tactics. Some workers were under pressure

to collect as many signatures as possible, with little time for oversight. The campaign says

it expected vendors to follow the law and is now reviewing the petitions. But New York's Board of Elections doesn't verify

whether signatures are valid, only whether there are enough of them. And by the time this story

came to light, the deadline to formally challenge the petitions had already passed. So, spoiler alert,

Adams is staying on the ballot. We'll talk about what David and Clayton and Bridget found and what all of this means for Mayor Adams' re-election campaign and perhaps for the system of petition signature gathering going forward. David, Clayton, Bridget, glad to have you all on the show. Oh, my God, so many of us in one place at one time. Hi. Hi, Brian. Pact House, Brian.

Thanks for having us. And listeners, maybe you've heard the radio version of this, which is aired.

Maybe you read the Gothamist version. And so we invite some of your calls with questions or comments

for our guests on their investigation into these dubious signatures on the mayor's petitions.

Were you approached to sign a ballot petition for Eric Adams?

Did you feel fully informed about what or who you were signing for?

Or any other way you can help us report this story or anything else you want to ask?

212-433. WNYC, 212- 433-9-6-92, call or text. So, Clayton,

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