Claiming too many troubles in all the-VBM election to be content in a fair, free and full expression of the voters’ intent, Bill McKoy today filed a petition in Superior Court of Passaic County contesting the Paterson Ward 3 results in the May 12th elections.

McKoy wants a judge’s affirmation that it cannot be determined with reasonable certainty who received a plurality of the votes cast for the position of Third Ward City Councilperson, and seeks a special election.

Following a June recount, the results of the election were as follows:

Alex Mendez 1,598 +3
William McKoy 1,358 +8
Sharrieff Bugg 298 +2
Robyn Spencer 118 +0
Chauncey I. Brown, III 42 +0

McKoy’s attorney, Scott Salmon, noted that Gregg F. Paster, Esq., attorney for Mendez, said, “This election is a sham, regardless of who are the ultimate victors and this process has to be reviewed by the courts to address the deficiencies in the planning and execution of the election.”

In his petition filed today, McKoy agrees with Paster.

“The Election was rife with nonfeasance, malfeasance, and straight up voter fraud. It was a failure at every level, from the mailing of VBMs to their delivery, from the actual casting of the ballots to the receiving of same by the Board of Elections and their counting thereof.

“To illustrate this point, note that 24.29% of all ballots in the Third Ward alone were rejected by
the Board of Elections and disqualified due to a variety of reasons that indicate a high level of voter fraud.

“This amount is even higher than the number of ballots rejected City-wide, which was approximately 19%.

“Upon information and belief, in the 31 municipalities that held elections on May 12, 2020,
including Paterson, only 9.6% of ballots were rejected. Excluding Paterson, the other 30 municipalities
averaged just 8.1% of ballots rejected. No other municipality had more than 13% of ballots rejected, with the vast majority of municipalities having 10% or fewer ballots rejected.

“The Board of Elections therefore rejected ballots in Paterson’s Third Ward at a rate of more than three times the average number of ballots rejected in every other municipality.”

Even within Paterson’s own history, this is an unusually high rejection rate:

In the 2018 Municipal Election, City-wide, just 10.5% of VBMs were rejected.

In the 2016 Municipal Election, City-wide, just 4.8% of VBMs were rejected.

In the 2014 Municipal Election, City-wide, just 4.5% of VBMs were rejected.

In his petition seeking redress, McKoy cites numerous instances of voters not receving ballots, because the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) failed to deliver ballots to individual voters. However, one Eduardo R. Soriano, Jr., who stated that he never received a ballot and therefore never voted, absored news of a ballot bearing his name received by the Board of Elections, where it was rejected due to a mismatched signature.

“Although we may never know for sure, it is possible that of the 26 individuals in the building who
voted, some or all of these individuals also did not actually receive their votes, which could easily have
been stolen and forged.”

Mendez, for his part, had his own complaints about the elections process, claming Mayor Andre Sayegh abused his power.

The mayor used members of the police force to “surveil candidates” that were running against his picks in the six ward elections, alleged Mendez.

Sayegh also used police to intimidate voters after the election, alleged Mendez.

“Mendez’s campaign provided a video that captures the alleged misconduct,” according to the Paterson Times. “The video shows three men interviewing a woman about her family voting in the May 12 vote-by mail election. One man is identified as police sergeant Edwin Morillo, who is part of the mayor’s security detail. A second man has a badge around his neck. And a third man is taking notes of the interview. Mendez said the incident in the video happened on Friday. The three men were at 255 East 27th Street.”

“It’s abundantly clear that authorities are investigating irregularities and potentially unlawful behavior, pertaining to the recent Council elections, as per media outlets. While Mr. Mendez imprudently attempts to control the narrative regarding these investigations, we can rest assured that justice will ultimately prevail. My focus has always been safeguarding the ideals of democracy that we hold sacred,” said Sayegh in a statement.