Alleging the possibility that gubernatorial candidate Lisa McCormick submitted fraudulent nominating petitions, the New Jersey Democratic State Committee wants her removed from primary election ballot and has asked the Division of Elections to refer the case to law enforcement as a potential criminal act.
“The voters who are claimed to have signed Ms. McCormick’s petition did not in fact sign it, did not authorize their names to be used, and most importantly did not even know that their names or electronic signatures were being utilized by the McCormick campaign,” said Raj Parikh, the counsel to the state party.
McCormick, a shadowy perennial candidate, is challenging Gov. Phil Murphy in the Democratic primary.
After a limited investigation, Parikh said, at least 12 voters who appear as signers for McCormick’s petitions “confirmed that they never signed same, nor did they authorize their names or electronic signatures to be used. In fact, they have advised that they never communicated with Ms. McCormick or her campaign in any way.”
“This type of blatant and fraudulent activity in our elections system must not be tolerated, and those responsible should held accountable,” Parikh said.
All of McCormick’s 1,932 signatures were obtained electronically. The Democratic committee says none of them came with an independent electronic signature verification.
Parikh pointed to one example of a Livingston man who signed McCormick’s petition: Leonard Krawitz, who died on January 28 at age 97.