PROVIDENCE, R.I. � The Rhode Island State Police said Friday they were pursuing leads that two men who came to Crossroads Rhode Island Wednesday to collect mail ballots from homeless residents were Providence...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. � The Rhode Island State Police said Friday they were pursuing leads that two men who came to Crossroads Rhode Island Wednesday to collect mail ballots from homeless residents were Providence police officers working for the mayoral campaign of Vincent A. �Buddy� Cianci Jr.

Col. Steven G. O�Donnell, state police superintendent, said residents at the shelter told detectives that they believed the visitors were Providence police officers �but we haven�t confirmed that yet.�

Karen Santilli, a spokeswoman for Crossroads, told The Providence Journal on Friday that an internal investigation at the shelter revealed that the two men did identify themselves as Cianci campaign workers to a woman who escorted them through the multistory shelter.

But the men, who carried clipboards and were described as �official-looking,� denied they were police officers when someone at the front desk remarked that they looked like officers, said Santilli.

The men showed no identification but said they were there to pick up ballots. While they had a list of about 40 residents to visit, they left with only a half-dozen ballots and appeared miffed, Santilli said, that some residents had mailed in their mail ballots.

Election officials say while it is lawful for a campaign worker to collect properly sealed mail ballots for counting on Election Day, it is a felony to fill out someone�s ballot or to collect blank ones.

A Crossroads resident said one of the visitors asked him to hand over his blank ballot.

While the state police were investigating whether any mail-ballot laws were broken, Providence Deputy Police Chief Thomas F. Oates III on Friday reviewed at state police headquarters security camera videotape from Crossroads of the two men entering the Broad Street shelter.

Providence police officials want to know whether the two men in question are police officers.

Oates reported back to Col. Hugh Clements, the police chief, that the poor quality of the videotape made it difficult to identify the men.

�We do not have confirmation that two Providence police officers are involved,� Clements said.

Nonetheless, he said, the Providence police will conduct a parallel investigation with the state police to determine whether the men are Providence officers. He said they hoped to have more answers early next week.

Crossroads resident Francis McKenna told The�Journal that one of the visitors knocked three times at his room door Wednesday, insistent that McKenna turn over the mail ballot he had helped McKenna apply for over Columbus Day weekend.

After telling the man he hadn�t had time yet to fill it out, McKenna said the visitor offered to help him fill it in and, when denied, asked McKenna to hand over his blank ballot.

�It was so obvious and so blatant what he wanted to do: fill it in himself,� said McKenna. �He insulted me, thinking because I live here he could do that.�

Another Crossroads resident, Peter Amado, 63, who lives on the same floor as McKenna, told The Journal Friday that he filled out his ballot in the presence of the visiting campaign worker, who encouraged him to vote for Cianci, which he did.

�He said they were working for Cianci and that his headquarters was just across the street,� said Amado. Asked by a reporter if he signed and sealed his ballot envelope, Amado said: �I believe so.�

The Cianci campaign, which refused to answer questions Thursday about whether they had any campaign volunteers at Crossroads this week, issued a statement Friday afternoon saying such misconduct charges are �to be fully expected� as an intense�campaign draws to a close.

The statement, which failed to clearly acknowledge whether the men at Crossroads were Cianci volunteers, said: �As far as the Crossroads allegations are concerned, we have hundreds of volunteers, many of whom perform the perfectly legal task of collecting mail ballots. We would certainly never tolerate any impropriety in this effort and would swiftly remove anyone from our outreach team whose conduct violated the highest ethical standards.�

The statement went on to say �We have no knowledge of any volunteer acting outside of these standards, other than what has been reported in the press. We will cooperate fully and freely with any official inquiries made�on this subject.�

Reached earlier in the day on the campaign trail, Cianci, an independent candidate, told The Journal he had �no idea� if the men were working for him. �I know I have almost 600, 700 volunteers. I don�t know all of them. Obviously, I know they are canvassing for ballots. I think everyone is doing that.�

The campaign of Cianci�s chief rival in the mayoral race, Democrat Jorge O. Elorza, called on the Cianci campaign �to admit or deny that their organization or any endorsing or affiliated organizations have pressured residents of the homeless shelter Crossroads to vote for Mr. Cianci via mail ballot, and to publicly disavow from any fraudulent activities.�

Elorza spokesman David Ortiz asked the Cianci campaign: �Given your previous campaign history of mail ballot tampering and voter fraud, can you assure Providence voters that there are no unlawful activities occurring from people associated with your campaign this time? If so, what is the oversight involved?�

Ortiz referenced a three-month�Journal-Bulletin investigation in 1982 and 1983�that found widespread abuses in the city�mail ballot system during the 1982 election when Cianci was seeking reelection.

The newspaper investigation concluded that the mail ballot abuses were so widespread and Cianci�s 1,074-vote margin of victory so narrow, that the outcome of the election could have been affected by that system of abuse.