New Jersey Democrats Charged with Mail-In Voter Fr

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Two Paterson, New Jersey councilmen and two men linked to a councilmen’s campaign have been charged with election fraud, mail-in voting fraud, and illegal possession of mail-in ballots.

Late last week, New Jersey’s Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced election fraud charges against Paterson City Councilman Michael Jackson (D), Councilman-elect Alex Mendez (D), Shelim Khalique, and Abu Razyen.

Shelim Khalique is the brother of Paterson City Councilman Shahin Khalique — the elected official behind the city allowing an Islamic call to prayer — and Abu Razyen is linked to Khalique’s re-election campaign, according to Grewal.

The charges allege that Jackson violated state election laws when he collected mail-in ballots from voters in recent city council elections and delivered them to the Passaic County Board of Elections. Jackson, according to the charges, did not identify who he was when he dropped off the ballots and in one case took an unsealed ballot that had not been filled out and delivered it sealed to the Board of Elections.

Jackson, 48-years-0ld, has been charged with third-degree fraud in casting a mail-in vote, third-degree unauthorized possession of ballots, third-degree tampering with public records, and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

Mendez, the charges allege, violated state election laws when he too collected ballots from voters and delivered them to election officials without ever identifying who he was. The charges claim Mendez delivered mail-in ballots that he knew were fraudulent, in that they were filled out by an ineligible voter.

Mendez, 45-years-old, has been charged with second-degree election fraud, third-degree fraud in casting mail-in votes, third-degree unauthorized possession of ballots, third-degree false registration or transfer, third-degree tampering with public records, and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

Khalique, likewise, has been charged with third-degree fraud in casting mail-in votes, third-degree unauthorized possession of ballots, third-degree tampering with public records, and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

According to prosecutors, Khalique did not identify himself when delivering mail-in ballots to election officials.

Razyen has been charged with third-degree fraud in casting mail-in votes and third-degree unauthorized possession of ballots for allegedly procuring and possessing more than three official mail-in ballots that were not his and for which he was not authorized to deliver.

Each of the men faces three to five years in prison for third-degree crimes, up to 18 months in prison for fourth-degree crimes, and five to 10 years in prison for second-degree crimes. Altogether, the men could be asked to pay more than $250,000 in fines.

The charges come as Paterson’s all mail-in ballot election was allegedly rife with fraud. Grewal confirmed that almost 20 percent of the mail-in votes cast were thrown out by the Board of Elections.

Recent data has not shown a compelling public health justification for mail-in voting. In Wisconsin’s April election, only 52 of more than 400,000 voters and poll workers were confirmed to have contracted the Chinese coronavirus. None of those cases were fatal. This equals an infection rate below two-hundredths of one percent.

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