WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — The Woonsocket Board of Canvassers voted Monday to refer mayoral candidate Keith Harrison’s nomination papers to law enforcement after discovering several irregularities including the names and signatures of at least two dead people.

The board met behind closed doors to discuss the matter before reconvening publicly and voting 2-0 to have law enforcement investigate any potential fraud.

As Target 12 first reported last week , Harrison’s campaign came under scrutiny after the names and signatures of two dead people appeared on his nomination papers. They also included the names and signatures of several living people who told Target 12 they never signed the documents.

Harrison, who signed off on the paperwork, rejected last week he’d forged any signatures, saying there’s no way to authenticate the identities of people who sign nomination papers. All mayoral candidates are required to collect at least 100 signatures from registered voters to be included on the ballot.

“In a nutshell, we can’t, as candidates getting signatures – we can’t ask people for IDs or verification, so therefore here we are,” Harrison said.

Despite the questions swirling around the validity of his paperwork, Harrison has been certified to appear on the ballot this fall, meaning Woonsocket is still slated to have a preliminary election for mayor in September.

Harrison is running against current mayor Christopher Beauchamp and City Council President John Ward. The candidates don’t run under any party affiliation and two biggest vote-getters move on to compete in the general election in November.

Eli Sherman ( esherman@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook .

Tim White and Andy Paskowski contributed to this report.

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