Middlesex election officials possible Perth Amboy voter fraud to attorney general

The Middlesex County Board of Elections has referred at least five allegations of voter fraud in the Perth Amboy non-partisan mayoral election to the attorney general’s office, the New Jersey Globe has learned

In those cases, individuals indicated that they had either received cure letters when they had not yet voted, or claimed they had not received their ballots.

“The Board received and further that the signatures present on the mail-in ballots in our possession is not their own and distinctly different from their official signature,” said Thomas Lynch, the administrator of the Board of Elections, in a letter to law enforcement obtained by the NJ Globe.

According to Lynch, all five voters live in Perth Amboy.

“I have  instructed staff on how we would handle Perth Amboy ballots moving forward by having only permanent Board staff review and process said ballots,” Lynch said.  “Also, that in the interim, we will be segmenting Perth Amboy ballots from the normal flow of processing until we have a better understanding of the scope of this issue.”

Lynch said he also notified the U.S. Postal Service.

Steven Barnes, a spokesman for Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, said he his office will “neither confirm nor deny investigations.

There are additional claims of voter fraud.

A video circulating in Perth Amboy shows Marilou Villacis, a former city council candidate, allegedly removing ballots from a mailbox.  She is accompanied by Junior Iglesia, a school board member and a city council candidate on a slate backed by Mayor Wilda Diaz.

Iglesia did not immediately respond to a 7:46 AM email seeking comment.  Villacis did not answer a telephone number she uses and there was no voice mail.

Diaz faces Councilman Helmin Caba in the December 15 runoff election.   Iglesia is one of four candidates in a runoff for two council seats.