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| Isn't she lovely? |
Congratulations, Harvest Queen!
It's a wonderful thing to beat out all the other contestants for the crown. Doesn't matter how you do it either, as long as you end up wearing the rhinestones.
Hoboken has it's own Harvest festival: we call it "election day." Instead of riding floats, our Harvest Queens sit in a chair at the City Council or on the Hoboken Board of Education.
Last week's harvest festival anointed a new Queen with a whopping 466 absentee ballots- an amount nearly 6 times greater than the machine-vote winner's 77 VBMs.
Certainly, 2014's crop was not as bountiful as the 2010 Harvest Queen's, with 575 paid campaign workers in an election where only 2,076 cast ballots, and nearly all "campaign workers" voted absentee.
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| original graph source: Blue Jersey " How much does it cost to Buy and Election in Hoboken's 4th Ward" |
Amazing!
Both 2010 and 2014 Harvest festivals may have something in common: an investigation by the Hudson County prosecutor and perhaps even the NJ Attorney General or the US District Attorney.
G-d save the Queen!
The 2010 Harvest festival 'allegedly' paid $40 per ballot- um, apple... while in 2014 the 'alleged' price dropped to $35.
But here's the kicker: unlike 2010, in 2014 the 466 VBM harvest was not decisive.
466 absentee ballots simply turned a School Board Trustee into a Harvest Queen.
And that is sad for the Queen, who had earned a Board position before the smelly bumper crop of ballots was counted, and now is tainted by them.
If prosecutions and convictions don't result from this latest round of vote buying and selling, the only conclusion to be drawn is that those in a position to do something are part of the problem. Voter fraud is a crime and if the vote sellers are residents of federal housing known as "the projects", they may lose their homes if the "one strike" rule applies in these cases.
ReplyDeleteWell we know Christie isn't a big fan of our Mile Square town after the Zimmer accusations, so maybe he can be convinced to get the NJ Attorney General to launch an investigation as payback. I doubt he'd care that the harvesters in this case are anti-Zimmer, he might just enjoy the opportunity to smack down a Democratic stronghold and bust some heads. One can dream...
ReplyDeleteThe illegal votes were largely from the projects, and under the 1988 federal "one strike" law, those who sold their votes may be on their way towards losing their homes. The act calls for "eviction if a tenant or a household member or guest engaged in any criminal activity on or near public housing premises". Let them all cop plea deals and name the names of those who really should be prosecuted.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Didn't know that... Chair Wefer, Chair Wefer???
DeleteThose residents are used to fear being instilled in them falsely and maybe not so falsely. If only the walls could talk.
According to that federal "one strike" law, it seems Barry might get his wish after all. And for the residents, your Carmelo's got your back. NOT. EVER. IN. A. Million. YEARS.
Make an example Chair Wefer and Atty Gen.
If you break the law, you no longer have a home in public housing, one strike and you’re out. That should be the law everywhere in America.
Delete—President Bill Clinton
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/usa1104/5.htm
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, HUD told Human Rights Watch that 46,657 applicants for conventional, project-based public housing were denied admission in 2002 because of “one strike” criteria.101 This figure, however, represents only a fraction of applicants rejected because of their criminal records... Our research suggests that PHAs typically reject applications from people convicted of felonies within five years of the application. We estimate that over the past five years, the number of convicted felons is at least 3.5 million.107 That is, we believe that at least 3.5 million would be ineligible for public housing. That number, of course, does not include people ineligible for other reasons, e.g. those convicted of misdemeanors or whose criminal records consist only of arrests; nor does it include those whose felony convictions are years earlier, but nonetheless might warrant exclusion either under local or federal rules.
The one strike law applies to the entire household. If a parent, whose name is on the lease, has an 18 year old child who sold their vote, or vice versa, they're all evicted, even the innocent parties.
ReplyDelete$ 40.00 doesn't get you a one night stay at a Motel 6, AND the criminal charge makes the vote-seller ineligible for any other federally subsidized housing program.
Maybe the vote buyers have lots of room in their homes?
So if they agree to testify and rid the city of this scourge, they and their entire family will lose their homes? Where do you sign up?!
ReplyDeleteHarvest Queen is s fitting name for Peter Biatchamano. Harvest Queen, rothflmao!!
ReplyDeleteSo if anyone agrees to testify and rid the city of this scourge, they and their entire family will lose their housing? Where do you sign up?!
ReplyDeleteThere is such a thing as cutting a deal to testify.
Delete