PRESS RELEASE: CCGOP Chair Wants Investigation Pre-Checked VBM Applications

Rich Ambrosino

Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino is backing up an argument made last week by the organization’s county-wide candidates, that the County Clerk was wrong to send pre-checked VBM applications. The chairman’s press release on the matter follows:

Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino added his voice to the organization’s county-wide candidates’ complaint about the County Clerk’s office mailing of pre-checked vote-by-mail applications.

After learning the County Clerk’s office mailed applications for vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters in Camden County with “ALL FUTURE ELECTIONS, until I request otherwise in writing” pre-marked with a red check Camden County Republican candidate for Surrogate, Kimberley Stuart and candidates for Freeholders Nicole Nance, Jennifer Moore and Johanna Scheets asked if the Camden County Clerk’s office mailing of pre-checked vote-by-mail applications was a way to stuff the ballot boxes come November.

“For nearly a month, before the Governor issued the Vote-by-Mail executive order, I have been fielding phone calls from voters asking what they should do with VBM applications they received that already have ‘all future elections’ checked,” CCGOP Chairman Rich Ambrosino said. “Many of these callers understand they’re going to have to cast their ballot via vote-by-mail for the upcoming primary, but they do not want to vote in all future elections by mail.”

“What really concerns me is that someone in the Clerk’s office assumed voters would want to vote in all future elections by mail, even voters who have never in their lives voted by mail.” Ambrosino continued. “An example is one of our former Assembly candidates who has never voted by mail received a VBM application pre-checked. He was not happy!”

Ambrosino asked, “Where else in the country would it be acceptable to simply assume voters who have never voted by mail would suddenly decide to vote by mail in every future election?”

“Only in Camden County could something like this happen without anyone questioning it.” Ambrosino explained, “Given the registration advantage Democrats have in Camden County it’s obvious why they would want to attempt to stuff the ballot boxes. It had nothing to do with an executive order that did not yet exist and it has nothing to do with making voting easier; it has everything to do with defeating President Trump. It’s exactly the kind of thing that happens when you live in a county run by a Democrat political cartel.”

“It’s time the State Division of Elections launches an investigation, determines how many voters have inadvertently signed up to vote in all future elections by mail and rectify the problem,” Ambrosino said. “Our candidates may have been right when they suggested the remedy is to re-send unchecked applications to every voter who returned the pre-checked applications, allowing individual voters to decide in which elections they wish to vote-by-mail. Doing nothing just adds to the perception that we live in a corrupt county.”