PRESS ADVISORY                                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, July 23, 2008                                                  Contact: Ron Filan 609-677-0707

 

 

BALLISTRERI & APONTE CALL FOR IMMEDIATE

ABSENTEE BALLOT REFORMS BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE

 

In the aftermath of more questionable use of absentee ballots in Atlantic City in last month’s primary and the prospect of the state legislature weakening elections laws with adoption of the Vote-By-Mail Act, Atlantic County Freeholder Candidates Tom Ballistreri and Manny Aponte, along with former Freeholder and EHT Committeeman John Risley, today called for the adoption meaningful absentee ballot reforms.

 

“The absentee ballot problem has persisted in Atlantic County for almost eight years and there has been no meaningful reforms adopted,” said Ballistreri, who currently serves as the Mayor of Folsom Borough.  “As Freeholders, we will work hard to enact tough absentee ballot safeguards to make certain that elections in Atlantic County are fair and honest.”

 

“Now the state legislature is moving closer toward approving of the Vote-By-Mail Act which will leave open the door for even more potential for fraud,” said Aponte.  “Last month on the evening of the primary, I watched as Callaway’s gang carried hundreds of ballots into the Board of Elections.  They just kept filing in one after another just as they have for countless elections here.  The system is broken and must be fixed.”

 

Aponte also pointed out that Freeholder Cooper refused to support a resolution passed by the Board of Freeholders earlier this month, which called on legislators to oppose to the Vote-By-Mail Act.

 

Ballistreri and Aponte called for the following absentee ballot reforms:

 

* Prohibit messengers from delivering absentee ballots for anyone other than a family member or caregiver and require the Clerk to verify the identity of messengers before a ballot is provided

 

* Audit the county clerk’s office to assure that verification of signatures and registrations is handled with due diligence

 

* Change the color of absentee ballot forms so they cannot be stockpiled from one election to the next

 

* Tougher investigations and enforcement by the Superintendent of Elections

 

* Designate an agency to monitor election officials --- county clerk, board of elections, and superintendent of elections --- as well as the process

 

* Limit the number of messenger ballots that any one person can deliver.

 

“We need these reforms -- which require the cooperation of state and county officials -- in place now so the integrity of our election process is preserved,” said former Freeholder and EHT Committeeman John Risley.

 

 

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Paid for by the Atlantic County Republican Committee, Mike Goloff, CPA, Treasurer.