In response to various vote-by-mail issues during this year’s primary election, Senator Michael Testa (R-1) emphasized the need to ensure New Jerseyans are allowed to vote in-person at their local polling places in November’s general election.

“The many failures of New Jersey’s vote-by-mail scheme, including voter fraud and errors in counting ballots, are on full display and must not be repeated,” said Testa. “Our upcoming general election is too important to entrust to a broken vote-by-mail system. Ensuring that future elections are held in-person will restore New Jersey’s election integrity and voter confidence in our democracy.”

Testa serves as the co-chair (with Senator Joe Pennacchio) of President Donald J. Trump’s reelection campaign in New Jersey.

The freshman state senator blamed Governor Phil Murphy’s executive orders, noting restrictions on residents from voting in person in New Jersey’s primary election with few exceptions. Testa had called upon the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey to monitor this election to prevent voter fraud and ballot tampering. He, Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, and Assemblyman Erik Simonsen outlined the recent and numerous cases of voter fraud in New Jersey.

In Atlantic County, more than a thousand mail-in ballots cast in the recent primary were misread and must be recounted according to news reports.

New Jersey’s primary election – historically held in early June – was pushed back to July 7, the same date that Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) agencies opened for the first time in months.

“It was hypocritical for the governor to force people to wait in long lines outside crowded MVC agencies while simultaneously saying it was too dangerous to let them quickly cast a vote at a local polling center,” added Testa. “We continue to see story after story detailing how New Jersey’s flawed vote-by-mail process continues to be wrought with errors. There’s absolutely zero excuse to not let voters cast their ballots in-person through the proven process that everybody trusts.”