A North Country Democrat is alleging fraud in the ballot petitions filed by one of the candidates seeking his party’s nomination in New York’s 21st Congressional District race.

Jason C. Clark, a leader in the St. Lawrence County Democratic Committee, is calling into question all of the signatures filed by Matthew Putorti, the Whitehall-area lawyer who is running for the Democratic nomination to Congress in NY-21.

Clark, who along with a small group of other Democrats has been combing through Putorti’s petitions since they were filed two weeks ago, said there are a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies on the pages filed. Clark said he’s working independently of the local party, despite his position.

“We started to see a number of questionable signatures,” he said. “When we got to page 107, there’s not a single signature on there that’s valid.”

Clark said he first noticed issues that warranted a closer look when he saw who was circulating the petitions that Putorti needed to submit in order to appear on the ballot.

“He had 42 witnesses in total, and 12 of them came from New York City,” he said. “If you’ve got a high percentage of your signatures being collected by someone who doesn’t know the area, that’s being paid, it’s worth looking at.”

Clark’s filing with the state Board of Election lists a litany of issues. He said the petitions don’t adequately describe the boundaries of the 21st Congressional District and has incorrect page numbers. The most glaring issue Clark has noted, however, is alleged signature forgeries on pages submitted by two of Putorti’s witnesses, one of whom is from New York City.

A list of other specific issues alleges more than 450 other forged signatures, incomplete voter information, incorrect voter information, altered signatures and incorrect dates.

Putorti’s campaign has maintained since the start that the petitions are entirely legal. Eric Hyers, a senior adviser for the Putorti campaign, said in a statement that Clark is wasting his time with frivolous challenges. Clark and the St. Lawrence County Democrats were early supporters of Matt Castelli, the other candidate running for the party’s line in the race for NY-21. Hyers said Clark is just trying to clear the path for Castelli.

“It is clear that Mr. Clark is deeply frustrated he does not have the power to select the Democratic nominee for NY-21 and clear the field for his chosen candidate,” he said. “But he does not. And all of his time-wasting, frivolous petition challenges will not change this.”

Putorti submitted more than 2,500 signatures, double the amount necessary to secure a spot on the primary ballot. Hyers said Clark hasn’t opposed enough signatures to invalidate the entire petition, should any be accepted. Clark’s filing states that Putorti has no valid signatures whatsoever.

“This is a temper tantrum by a grown man,” Hyers said. “He has gone so far as to accuse Matt’s mother — a respected small business owner and upstanding member of this community — of forgery. That’s how you know he has completely lost the script.”

Hyers said it’s unfortunate that battle lines have developed in the Democratic primary, when there are big issues to discuss.

“Again we ask: What are Matt Castelli and his supporters like Clark so afraid will come from debating ideas and policy proposals and allowing Democratic primary voters to make the choice about who is the strongest candidate to take on Elise Stefanik?” he said.

Clark said he’s not specifically accusing Putorti of fraud, but rather of running a sloppy or inefficient campaign.

“Anyone with a pulse can tell you page 107 is forged,” he said. “How they missed that is beyond me, but there’s still no excuse.”

The state Board of Elections will hold a hearing this week on the petitions, and issue a ruling on the validity of the signatures shortly after. On the allegations of criminal forgery, Clark can either file a civil suit or take it to law enforcement. Both options. Clark said, are on the table at this point.

If the petitions are invalidated, Putorti will not appear on the Democratic primary ballot in June as planned, and Castelli will go on to the general election against Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville.

In the 24th Congressional District, general objections have also been filed against a candidate seeking the Republican Party line there. Mario Fratto, a Geneva-based businessman, filed petitions to challenge Congressman Chris Jacobs, R-Orchard Park for the seat in the newly drawn lakeshore district.

Patricia Eick, a Republican official in Orleans County, filed a general objection alleging unspecified issues with Fratto’s petitions, and had until Monday to submit specific objections by mail. The state BOE had not received those objections by the end of the day Monday, but as long as they were postmarked before 5 p.m. Monday, they can still arrive before the end of Wednesday.

The Fratto campaign said it can draw a clear line from Eick to Jacobs, and accused the congressman of attempting to kick Fratto off the ballot before the vote.

“Chris Jacobs has shown his hand and is running scared,” Fratto said in a statement. “He knows that he cannot win at the ballot box, so he wants to take the choice away from the voters by using his political connections and the establishment to get us out of the race.”

The state BOE has a deadline of May 4 to certify the primary ballot, and hopes to have all petition challenges finished before May 2.