Election Redo: Trump Sues NJ Over Universal Mail-In Voting, Cites Local Election Fraud

While Democrats and the Trump administration fight about the merits and safety of mail-in ballots, a judge in New Jersey had to order an entire redo of a local city council election because of voter fraud involving over 800 mail-in ballots. This news comes as the Trump re-election campaign announced a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey over its rash decision to utilize universal mail-in ballots, a method that leads to fraud unlike absentee ballots, which are far more secure.

Judge Ernest Caposela ruled Wednesday an entirely new election would be held for the Paterson City Council in November after the ‘winner’ of the May 12 election, Alex Mendez, was charged with voter fraud in June. The U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement agency reported that hundreds of mail-in ballots were discovered in a Paterson mailbox. This led to the Passaic County Board of Elections eventually discounting 800 ballots.

Three other men, including Paterson Council Vice President Michael Jackson, have been charged with voter fraud. All four deny the allegations.

President Trump has cited this example as a reason to sue the state over its newly decided universal mail-in policy.

Donald J. Trump for President, the New Jersey Republican State Committee, and the Republican National Committee filed the lawsuit asking the NJ courts to overturn Governor Phil Murphy’s ruling to mail every single voter a ballot, and registration to eligible but not registered citizens.

“In his haste, the governor created a system that will violate eligible citizens’ right to vote,” the lawsuit states. “By ordering universal vote-by-mail, he has created a recipe for disaster. Fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The Governor sticks by his ruling, telling CNN, “We mailed ballots to folks who were registered in either party. We mailed applications to those who weren’t. And we also provided in-person voting capacity at least 50% in each county and at least one location in each municipality. It was a success. Not perfect, but overwhelmingly a success.”

Trump has advocated for absentee voting, which requires a voter to request their ballot via the mail and some states require a reason be given as to why the voter can’t go in person, though most states have waived the need for an excuse during the pandemic.

Universal mail-in voting, however, creates a dangerous and fraud-heavy environment, as evidenced by this city council election, where every voter is sent a ballot regardless of their plans to vote in person. Frequently, deceased and ineligible people receive ballots that can easily be submitted.