Earwitness Rumor: Buying BoE votes (allegedly)


Are you ready?

GA's Q-Tipster was told the following about the 2015 BoE Election:
Reach Higher was campaigning in a second ward Applied Building and was told by one resident: "I'd love to support you but [redacted] already paid me."
HOLY alleged CASH COW!   Allegedly.

Oh man, wouldn't you love to solve that puzzle?


Folks, vote-buying is an open secret in Hoboken.

For every election cycle, one political faction ("the Dark Side") reliably harvests a massive crop of  VBMs  allegedly in exchange for loot; typically $40 but  amounts vary according to the 'going rate.'

In fact, the big political joke of the 2012 BoE race was the unintended consequence of allegedly storing hundreds of ready-to-mail VBMs in the basement of a 3rd Ward building.

Hint: Superstorm Sandy flooded Hoboken on October 29, 2012.

Holy S.S. Titanic!

GA wrote about the Citadel Drowning:
As you know, these ballots are supposed to remain in the custody of their respective ballot bearers whose job it is to bring them to the Board of Elections.  They aren't supposed to be stored by the bushel in someone's basement. Oops.

So more scuttlebutt is that these soggy VBMs were placed in mailboxes all over town to coverup the mass-drowning.  And the official story is that the ballots got wet inside the mailboxes.  (You know, those fearsome mailbox rain storms.)
 
Democracy fans cheered the election results, Farmers lamented: Reform candidates swept on the machines in 2012.  2012 was a presidential election year, too.

Alas, Democracy in Hoboken's been roughed up since 2012.   The VBM farmers have had some big victories.

Can you guess which School Board candidate scored a whopping 466 absentee ballots- an amount nearly 6 times greater than the winner of the machine vote (77 VBMs).

In fact, this 466 absentee ballot Harvest Queen came in 4th Place on the machines!


Don't you think Hoboken election fraud should be put on NJ Governor-to-be Phil Murphy's radar? 

Start taking notes, people!  And photos. And VIDEO.

Comments

  1. Democracy in hoboken has been roughed up for longer than since 2012. Have you forgotten Peter Cammarano's 161 vote Mayoral victory in 2009 on the strength of almost 1000 paid for votes, many but not all of them VBM's?

    We got lucky thanks to the feds but let's not forget that he won that election, how he won it, and how different our town would be if the feds hadn't bailed us out.

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  2. We ever get campaign finance reports from the last bout of vote buying? Or did those crooks fail to follow the law?

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  3. What's the statute of limitations on prosecuting voter fraud?

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  4. We need some affidavits.

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  5. 4 affidavits supplied to the AG in the wake of Occhipinti's 2010 ludicrous vbm harvest. No action taken. Except anything done against the affidavit signers that we don't know about.

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  6. My opinion, I have no doubt that the Russo-Romanno crew will again try to gain power on the BOE in any way possible as was and could be a lucrative income -patronage source.

    The political atmosphere in Hoboken has radically changed in the last few years.

    Much of Elizabeth & Richard Mason's highly toxic funding was redirected to other selfish endeavors political agendas out side of Hoboken.

    Now that the Garcia-Campos have been largely neutralized due to their own hubris and stupidity. Their stronghold of HHA is in the long process of being cleaned up after decades of dirty deals the have become more difficult for the Old Guard to harvest votes. Plus they don't have nearly as much money to pay hundred of election day workers as the once did.

    It is a Presidential election and the very large voter turn out will dilute much of the advantage the Hoboken's Old Guard politicos count on is off year elections.

    The demographics of Hoboken has changed and while the Old Guard politicos usual vote is diminishing the pool of new voters who they do not hold sway over is growing.

    City Hall and the City Council are no longer locked in constant deadlocked partisan conflict and is working to improve the living conditions of the residents of Hoboken and as a result the numbers of voters happy with the direction their City is going has gone up. When people see things going well they vote to keep those leading in office.

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    Replies
    1. well said. how certain are we that the masons won't be funding local politics anymore? if if it's true, where does russo and the OG in general go to replace the mason cash? pupie is an oddball character, sometimes spending on some things (like his boy peter b.) but not for other OGs with whom he always seems to be feuding.

      things in flux, weird times.

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    2. Anon 10:45: "It is a Presidential election and the very large voter turn out will dilute much of the advantage the Hoboken's Old Guard politicos count on is off year elections". I dont agree entirely. The paid for VBM machine is in full force - and this year, both of the historical supporters - Raia and Russo - are in it and working together. Last year, the school board lost two seats due to these votes - Sheillah Dallara and Addys Velez both were 2nd and 3rd out of the machines, but the excessive paid for VBM's for Madigan and Montgomery - ~500 each) bumped both, and Addis lost by 34 votes. In 2012, the last presidential election, the Kids' first / reform slate had ~3500 machine votes vs. the bad guy slate that had between 2500-3000 machine votes each. The bad guy slate received an average of 800 VBM's (double that of the Kid's first slate) and what looks to be 500 of these VBM's came out of the housing authority and senior buildings. Although this was not enough to upset the Kid's first slate, Jean Marie Mitchell won the third seat by less than 100 votes. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE GET THE WORD OUT FOR 1-2-4 and that we do not take this election for granted.

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