State and federal law enforcement have opened an investigation into allegations of election fraud in Allenhurst, a wealthy oceanfront community in Monmouth County with a fast-growing Syrian Jewish community, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Election officials became concerned over a voter registration surge after the number of eligible voters increased by nearly 75% in about one year. The 597 registered voters are 26% higher than the borough’s population, which was 472 after the 2020 U.S. Census.
The New Jersey Globe has also learned that the probe also includes elections in Deal and Loch Arbour, where write-in candidates appear to have ousted three candidates for the village commission that had run unopposed.
“The Prosecutor’s Office can confirm the existence of an active investigation into allegations that certain individuals may have improperly registered to vote and/or voted in a previous election in Monmouth County,” said Mark Spivey, a spokesman for the office. “While we cannot discuss any specific details of the investigation at this time, what we can say is that we take any and all allegations of interference with free and fair elections with the utmost seriousness, as ensuring their integrity is a fundamental responsibility of any functioning democracy.”
In Tuesday’s non-partisan municipal election in Allenhurst, Mayor David McLaughlin and his two running mates lost by a greater than 2-1 margin against challengers Frieda Adjmi, Theresa Manziano-Santoro, and Joseph R. Dweck. Turnout was at 60.5%,
The underlying issue locally is resistance from some longtime residents that a housing shortage in Deal has led Syrian Jews to begin buying and renovating summer homes in Allenhurst, which is next door.
“There are a lot of new people,” said Manziano-Santoro. “They have made nice improvements to their homes.”
Reports of a slew of vehicles with New York license plates showing up at the polls this week only fueled concerns that non-residents had registered to vote in Allenhurst in a bid to help the challenger candidates.
Election officials placed a huge number of voters on a challenge list and advised them to bring proof of residency – like a driver’s license or a utility bill – to the polls.
On Election Day, Superior Court Judge Kathleen Sheedy rejected a bid by one man to vote in the local election after finding that his primary domicile was in Brooklyn. Under questioning by Sheedy, Jack Adjmi, whose name had previously been withheld by the New Jersey Globe, was unable to produce any documentation showing that he resided in Allenhurst.
Local election officials contacted the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office, and the New Jersey Globe has learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also involved in the fledgling investigation.
Manziano-Santoro was the top vote-getter on Tuesday with 251 votes, followed by Dweck with 241 and Adjmi with 230. McLaughlin received 119 votes, followed by another incumbent, Richard Cumisky (104); their running mate for an open seat on the three-member governing body, Mark Horowitz, received 99 votes. The 361 ballots cast this week were considerably more than the 267 votes in the 2020 presidential election.
In a brief telephone interview, Manziano-Santoro said she was not aware of a probe.
“This is the first that I’m hearing about it,” she said. “Allenhurst has had very few elections where there were more candidates than positions available.”
McLaughlin did not respond to a text message seeking comment. Adjmi sent a text in response to a voice mail asking for specific questions, but has not called back.
Deal and Loch Arbour have also seen a significant increase in voter registration over the last year. Loch Arbour, which has a population of 224, now has 285 voters; that represents a 96.6% increase in voter registration in one year. The number of voters in Deal (pop. 900) has gone up by nearly 38%.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that registrations are illegal; voters are permitted to have multiple homes, but only one domicile. Residents may vote out of domicile.
Two of the Allenhurst candidates are no strangers to controversy.
In 1996, Alex Adjmi, the husband of Frieda Adjmi, was convicted of money laundering after being caught in a government sting operation where he helped wash over $22 million for a Colombian drug cartel. He served 44 months in federal prison. Adjmi was pardoned by President Donald Trump at the request of leaders of the Syrian Jewish community in New York. Adjmi contributed $100,000 to a Trump-related PAC, Make America Great Again.
Manziano-Santoro’s husband, Robert Santoro, identified by federal prosecutors as an associate of the Genovese crime family, was convicted of laundering over $7 million through his Jersey City-based check cashing business where a developer and some union leaders allegedly skimmed money from a Metropolitan Transportation Authority project. He spent seven years in prison.
This story was updated at 2:31 with comment from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office.