Mail-In Ballot Fraud Is More Than An Embarrassment for Paterson; It’s A Roadblock to Problem Solving

                                                   May 14, 2020

(Paterson, NJ) Paterson’s Second Ward City Council candidate in the May 12 election, Frank G. Filippelli, says the scandalous outcome of Tuesday’s election is an embarrassment to the city and a detriment to good government.

The results of Tuesday’s council election cannot not yet be calculated because of problems with the mail-in ballots in the first election in state history that was contested only by mail-in voting. More than 800 mail in ballots were set aside because they may have been gathered illegally and a Superior Court Judge delayed the results of the election by a week to give county election division personnel time to sort through, count and verify all the mail-in ballots.

“Mail-in voting only was a bad idea from the start. Everyone saw the corruption coming. In Paterson, the abuse of the mail-in system rose to a new level of fraud and corruption,” said Filippelli, a lifelong resident of the city.

The candidate said there are hundreds if not more than a thousand people whose votes may never be counted and many others whose votes were paid for and still others who had no idea that they voted or who they voted for because someone filled out a mail-in ballot for them.

Filippelli said the city, county and state are partially at fault for the election mishaps because they failed to properly inform people about the mail in voting.

“There were no public service announcements on cable TV or radio telling people about the mail-only voting, or where to get help. Many people got a ballot in the mail and treated it like junk mail,” he said.

LONG TERM IMPLICATONS

Filippelli said he is not as concerned about the outcome in his ward as he is about the impact a corrupt election will have on the public.

“If the city’s residents don’t trust the electoral system; if they think it’s rigged, they are not going to want to vote and they not going to trust the people who are declared winners. If we have candidates who are willing to steal votes to get elected; what are they willing to do when they get in office?” asked Filippelli.

“The city has major problems to solve, but what are we talking about today? We are not talking about solving those problems. We are talking about election fraud,” he added.

REAL PUNISHMENT

Filippelli said he supports state and federal investigations into the city’s election and he wants those who are found guilty of wrongdoing to be adequately punished.

“The only way you are going to stop ballot fraud is if the government sends people to jail. A fine or a slap on the wrist does nothing to deter ballot fraud, added the candidate. Harvesting mail-in ballots has become a lucrative business. There is too much money in it now,” said Filippelli.

 CURTAIL VOTE BY MAIL

“The expansion of mail-in voting in New Jersey has been a major mistake.,” said Filippelli. “It takes the emphasis of the election off of issues and problem solving and places it solely on the candidates who can hire the most people to round up the most ballots as possible.

“Mail-in ballots are supposed to make voting easier, but what’s the point of making voting easier if you are also making it more corrupt?” asked Filippelli.