The New Jersey Republican Get together is sounding the alarms over the Democrat-controlled Passaic County Board of Elections’ alleged refusal to permit safety cameras to observe poll storage areas for this yr’s tight gubernatorial election.
Passaic County’s Board of Elections can also be accused of refusing to implement “fundamental sign-in and sign-out logs” for people accessing mail-in ballots, based on the Backyard State GOP.
The essential county — which President Trump gained in 2024 in a surprising upset — has a historical past alleged election irregularities.
“Lately, Passaic County has been dwelling to notorious voter fraud schemes and among the many slowest counties to depend ballots and certify elections in the whole state,” New Jersey Republican Get together Chairman Glenn Paulsen mentioned in an announcement Saturday.
“Frankly, provided that, the Passaic County Republican Get together is justified of their suspicion about what occurs exterior of public view, and the NGOP stands firmly behind their authorized calls for for election
integrity and transparency.”
Passaic County is the state’s tenth most populous, with 527,000 residents. It’s dwelling to Paterson, the state’s third largest metropolis, and an enormous immigrant inhabitants — greater than one-third of residents are foreign-born.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli has frolicked stumping in elements of the county, hoping it is going to be a part of his pathway to the governor’s mansion.
Ciattarelli shared the New Jersey GOP’s assertion of concern relating to the county however avoided placing out his personal assertion on the controversy.
He’s at the moment locked in a good race with Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill — with some polls earlier within the cycle exhibiting them neck-and-neck.
Within the 2021 election towards Gov. Phil Murphy, Ciattarelli misplaced Passaic by 3.8 share factors — the smallest margin of any county within the state.
President Trump eked out a gorgeous win in Passaic County final November, 49.6% to 46.8%, turning into the primary Republican presidential candidate to take action since 1992.
He misplaced Passaic by about 16.6 share factors in 2020.
Again in 2020, the Paterson Metropolis Council devolved into disarray after state officers unearthed mail-in poll irregularities.
Former Paterson Metropolis Council President Alex Mendez, Councilman Michael Jackson, and different high metropolis officers had been hit with prices of election fraud, public data tampering, forgery and extra.
Officers later revealed that some 3,190 out of 16,747 ballots forged — 20% — needed to be tossed as a result of they had been disqualified. A decide then ordered a brand new election in November 2020, which Mendez gained.
The case towards Mendez continues to be ongoing, with contemporary prices getting unfurled by prosecutors this previous April.
“To make the change we’d like in Passaic County and in New Jersey, everybody should vote by November 4th,” Paulsen, the state’s GOP chair, mentioned. “We’re paying consideration, we’re vigilant, however the way in which we’re going to win is to make it too large to rig.”
The New Jersey GOP later posted on X, “Daring technique. Guess democracy dies at nighttime… and apparently, Passaic simply turned off the lights.”
Democratic comms strategist Daniel Bryan, who beforehand labored as a high adviser to outgoing Gov. Murphy (D), dinged the New Jersey GOP and accused the social gathering of setting the stage for election denialism.
“Let’s be clear on what that is: the [New Jersey Republican Party] is setting the stage to disclaim November’s election outcomes. They see the identical polling and early vote information as the remainder of us. Hope the press sees this for what it’s and begins calling it out *now*,” he posted on X.
The Submit pinged Ciattarelli’s marketing campaign and officers in Passaic County for remark.
