HOBOKEN – One hundred and ninety ballots deemed suspicious from the 4th Ward special election will be forwarded to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, according to Michael Harper, Hudson County Board of Elections clerk.
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Elections on late Wednesday afternoon featured many members of the public and two Hoboken council members who spoke and asked for a full investigation into allegations of voter fraud.
Councilman Tim Occhipinti received a large number of vote-by-mail ballots, and the campaign of former Councilman Michael Lenz have alleged that Occhipinti’s campaign paid people to vote. Lenz’s campaign said some of Occhipinti’s campaign workers received checks for working on the campaign close to the day their vote-by-mail ballots were submitted.
Harper said that his board will assist the prosecutor’s office, but the decision to pursue criminal charges or not is now in the hands of the prosecutor.
Councilman Ravi Bhalla called the events of the day “encouraging.”
Calls to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office were not immediately returned.
For a full length article on the 4th Ward ballot investigation, see this weekends Hoboken Reporter. — Ray Smith
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