Marlborough City Council candidate pleads not guilty in voter fraud case; allegedly submitted absentee voter application for dead man

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A former candidate for Marlborough City Council was arraigned today on voter fraud charges for allegedly handing in an absentee ballot application at City Hall for a man who had died earlier in the year, Middlesex County prosecutors said today.

Mark Evangelous, 51, 0f Marlborough faces charges of forgery, uttering, and violating absentee voting laws, District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.’s office said.

Middlesex Superior Court Assistant Clerk Magistrate Matt Day released Evangelous on personal recognizance. Day slated another hearing in the case for March 14.

“Obviously, he pled not guilty and we intend to fight the charges,” said Evangelous’s attorney, Anthony Cardinale of Boston.

Prosecutors said that on Oct. 28 at about 9:45 a.m. Evangelous handed in a handwritten absentee ballot application that was filled out with the name of an 89-year-old city resident. The resident’s signature appeared at the bottom of the application; an area designated for indicating that the person needed assistance in filling out the form was left blank.

A City Hall worker found that the resident on the application was not registered to vote and had passed away earlier in the year, prosecutors said. Marlborough police investigated. The defendant was indicted on Jan. 31.