Concord's town clerk flagged eight signatures on independent U.S. Senate candidate Shiva Ayyadurai's ballot petition that she said appeared to come from one person's hand.

Town Clerk Kaari Mai Tari reported the irregularities to state authorities after her office received 16 pages of petition signatures for Ayyadurai in early June, she told The Concord Bridge. The eight entries "seemed to be written by the same hand" and used the same ink, Tari said.

The names matched real Concord residents, but officials found spelling errors in the names and addresses.

Massachusetts Senate candidates need 10,000 certified signatures to earn a ballot line. Concord certified 150 for Ayyadurai, including the eight in question. State officials told Tari's office to accept and process the papers but forward copies to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office.

"They took it from there," Tari told The Bridge.

Concord was not alone. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office heard similar concerns from clerks in Boylston, Clinton, Stow, Townsend, Wakefield and Woburn. Galvin forwarded the accusations to state prosecutors in September, according to a referral letter first reported by The Boston Globe.

The Globe reported that Woburn's city clerk told Galvin's office she found her own name among the submitted signatures, though she said she had never signed the document. In Wakefield, the town clerk reported finding her husband's name on the papers, and he confirmed he had not signed them. A Clinton voter told that town's clerk she had been approached outside a market in Hudson and told by a signature gatherer that she could sign other people's names on the sheets. The voter later reported the incident to Hudson police.

Despite the allegations, local officials are required to certify nomination signatures even when they suspect fraud. Debra O'Malley, director of communications for Galvin's office, told The Bridge that the State Ballot Law Commission is the proper venue for fraud allegations. No one filed an objection with the commission about Ayyadurai's papers, O'Malley said.

Ayyadurai remains on the Nov. 3 ballot. A spokesperson for Attorney General Andrea Campbell declined to answer questions from The Bridge. The Globe reported that Campbell's office confirmed it had received the referral and was reviewing it. Ayyadurai's campaign did not respond to The Bridge's inquiries.

Tari, who has worked in Concord since 2017, said she does not remember another situation like this in town.

Ayyadurai, a tech entrepreneur with four degrees from MIT, has run in multiple U.S. Senate races over the past decade as an independent and as a Republican. He sought the presidency as an independent in 2024, receiving 36 votes in Concord. Democratic incumbent Ed Markey faces Republican John Deaton in the 2026 Senate race, with Ayyadurai among several independent and third-party candidates also on the ballot.

In-person early voting begins Saturday, Oct. 17. The voter registration deadline is Saturday, Oct. 24, and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27.