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PATERSON, NJ – A judge has ruled that a new election will be held in November for a contested seat on Paterson city council, just weeks after the apparent race winner and a sitting councilor were charged with voter fraud.
State Superior Court judge Ernest Caposela released his ruling on Wednesday.
Alex Mendez had won a special election on May 12 to take the seat, but allegations of voter fraud were quickly raised. An investigation was then opened after the US Postal Service’s law enforcement department informed the state attorney general’s office of hundreds of mail-in ballots located in a mailbox in Paterson, as well as others found at nearby Haledon.
Ultimately, the Passaic County Election Board decided not to count 800 ballots in the race.
Charges of electoral fraud were brought in June against Mendez, Deputy Council Chairman Paterson Michael Jackson and two other men: Shelim Khalique, of Wayne, and Abu Rayzen, of Prospect Park. An attorney for City Councilor William McKoy, who had been defeated by Mendez, then successfully applied for an injunction prohibiting Mendez from being sworn in.
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The four defendants maintained their innocence.
President Donald Trump cited the contested race as a case study of what might happen in an election conducted primarily by mail. His re-election campaign continued on Tuesday against New Jersey in an attempt to stop the state’s plans to hold the November general election primarily by mail.
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