Corrado Demands Answers for 6,500+ VBM Ballots With Wrong Postage Date

Senator Kristin Corrado wrote to New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way demanding a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding 6,535 mail-in-ballots that were incorrectly postmarked for the wrong day.

“The recent unveiling of yet another vote-by-mail issue gives me pause,” said Corrado (R-40). “More than 6,500 ballots were incorrectly postmarked during New Jersey’s primary election, which nobody can seem to explain. Whether it’s a result of human error or blatant malfeasance, the integrity of our upcoming general election is at stake through concerning situations like this.”

Corrado sent a letter to Secretary Way seeking to find out who in the administration was notified and when. This is a follow up to two previous letters requesting that the election process be made fully transparent while ensuring both County Clerks and the Board of Elections can deliver fair and accurate election results.

In August, Corrado spoke on the Senate Floor in regards to Gov. Murphy’s push for an all vote-by-mail election. She called for in-person voting in the machine and for secure ballot boxes to be placed in every municipality throughout the State to make it easy for every single voter to securely deliver their mail-in ballot if they desire.

Corrado called to amend A-4475/S-2580, which would require ballot boxes to be installed at various locations seven days before an election. The bill excluded at least 185 towns, towns that just so happened to be primarily Republican. Legislative Democrats tabled her motion to amend, and Gov. Murphy signed the bill into law.

This comes in the wake of Corrado’s legislative office already receiving numerous complaints and concerns from constituents regarding vote-by-mail ballots for the upcoming general election, including:

• Ballots received for parents who passed away in 2007 and 2009;
• Parents receiving a ballot for their son who moved to Pennsylvania in 2006 and another family receiving a ballot for their daughter who resides in Utah for the past two years;
• Homeowners receiving multiple ballots for the previous owners.

“Residents are receiving ballots for previous homeowners, out-of-state family members, and deceased relatives,” added Corrado. “When many competitive races are decided with narrow margins of victory, it’s clear that the delivery of these extra mail-in ballots provides a real opportunity to improperly change the outcome of elections. It’s yet another reason that I’m calling for New Jersey residents to be able to vote in person.”