Mayor-Elect Peter Cammarano sent out a victory letter yesterday talking about his transition. A reader responded, asking how he had so many more absentee ballots than opponent Dawn Zimmer did, even though she won on the machines. This has, however, been a factor in many past Hoboken elections in which the candidate with the bigger machine or stronger campaign has worked hard in senior citizen homes and other places to get absentee ballots in, whether observers like the practice or not. In fact, in the 4th Ward council election two years ago, Zimmer herself benefited from this tactic. Her team reportedly had consulted former Councilman Andrew Amato in this regard, as Amato was always known for his great absentee ballot efforts.
Last year, New Jersey law changed so that voters could vote absentee for any reason, not just because they might be away or incapacitated on election day. Does it open elections up to more problems? What do you think?
Here is some of Cammarano’s letter, and the response:
“…The Hoboken City Clerk has also certified the results indicating that we won by 161 votes. Our victory is the direct result of your incredible efforts. I am deeply humbled and eternally grateful to all of you for the opportunity you have given me to be mayor of Hoboken.
“I assure you and all the residents of our great city that I will do all that is possible to represent our community with a sense of purpose that brings pride and honor to you and the generations of “Hobokenites” that have come before us.
“Members of my staff have set up an office in City Hall for the transition process and are also making plans for the inauguration which will take place on July 1. I will keep you informed of any and all details as they emerge. In the interim you may contact the transition office at 201-239-6635 or by emailing us at transition09@hobokennj.org.
And a response from a voter, which was also sent to us:
Subject: Re: It’s official!
Peter,
Please excuse the bluntness of this email, I am sure you can understand some of our frustrations over what has happened here. And know that like Dawn, we are all looking to move forward, hand and hand, toward a better Hoboken, one without more PILOT development stop-gapping poorly planned budgets, no development by the Rockefellers on the north side, and lots of open spaces for the generations that will follow us.
Do you have an explanation for this very simple graphic seen below? I have been asking lots of people and none of them can come up with a valid reason why the polls would be so close, and actually in Zimmer’s favor by over 260 votes, and yet, your Absentee votes are 234 percent the number of Absentee votes she received? I am just confused how the one thing not automated, is so drastically different?
http://smaller.in/explainplease
*I am using numbers from an article, so they might not be the most updated, but the point should be clear