Republicans Request Monitors in New Jersey Gubernatorial Race
Republicans in New Jersey are urging the Trump administration to send monitors to crucial battleground counties for the upcoming gubernatorial election. This follows a decision by the Democratic-led election board to deny security measures for installing cameras at ballot storage sites.
The legal representatives for the New Jersey GOP have indicated that the Justice Department should oversee the process of handling mail-in ballots, particularly due to Passaic County’s troubled history with election fraud allegations.
“Passaic County has a well-documented history of vote-by-mail fraud involving numerous indictments for ballot tampering,” Jason Sena, an attorney for the Republican Party, stated in a letter to the Justice Department, as reported by the Post.
“The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has failed to effectively prosecute these cases, allowing indicted politicians to remain in office years after being charged.”
Passaic County, which ranks as the state’s 10th most populous area, is viewed as critical for the Republicans if they hope to gain control of the governor’s office next month.
In the previous election cycle, an unexpected result unfolded, with President Trump winning Passaic County by a 3% margin last November. Four years earlier, Trump had lost the county by 16.6%.
Earlier that same year, there were findings of postal voting fraud in local elections, leading to another round of voting.
Council President Alex Mendez of Paterson was charged with election fraud, document tampering, and forgery connected to the 2020 election, which utilized mail-in voting. His case remains ongoing, with more charges filed as recently as April.
During scrutiny of ballots from the Paterson City Council elections, officials disqualified about 20% after comparing signatures, discovering about 800 ballots that were “improperly bundled” in mailboxes.
Sena’s letter to Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general for the Justice Department, highlighted instances in 2020 when hundreds of stolen and tampered ballots were reported in Passaic.
New Jersey Republican Party Chairman Glenn Paulsen criticized Passaic County’s refusal to place surveillance cameras at ballot storage sites over the weekend, emphasizing a lack of transparency from the Passaic County Board of Elections and its Chairman, John Curry.
Last Friday, the board delayed action on a Republican proposal to install 24-hour surveillance at ballot locations and maintain logs for access to these areas.
The move was swiftly condemned by Republican leaders, although Sena suggested that there might be more information to surface.
“The Republican Party stakeholders, including the Passaic County GOP Chairman, are prepared to provide information regarding voter fraud to the Department. We’re also willing to share an audio recording related to these issues,” he mentioned.
The Post reached out to the New Jersey GOP regarding details of the audio recording and other information referenced in Sena’s letter, as well as comments from Passaic County officials and the Department of Justice.
Concerns over Passaic County heighten as the gubernatorial race heats up between Republican Jack Ciatarelli and Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.).
