Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and 13 campaign workers indicted on charges they conspired in fraudulent messenger ballots. The investigation is on going, according to the state.
The defendants had an “autograph party,” according to the state.
Charges of voter fraud have been haunting the
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Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small
Under indictment are: Councilman Marty Small, 35, of Atlantic City; Luquay Zahir, a.k.a. Luqua McNair, 34, of Atlantic City; David Callaway, 46, of Pleasantville; Floyd Tally, a.k.a. Floyd Harrell, 39, of Atlantic City; Mark Crumble, a.k.a. Johnny Crumbles, 48, of
Callaway, Zahir, Tally,
Small, Pijuan, Storr and Quirk are the four defendants named in the count of the indictment charging third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution. They allegedly provided false information to investigators.
“Councilman Small and his co-defendants are charged with seeking to corrupt the election process,” said Attorney General Milgram. “We charge that they disenfranchised voters by destroying messenger ballots that were voted for Small’s opponents and submitting ballots as votes for Small from people who never received them. This conduct is a violation of the fundamental right to vote and the right of the electorate to have their vote counted.”
Small was previously indicted on similar charges and a jury found him not guilty.
Each defendant is charged with conspiracy, a second degree crime, four counts of election fraud a second degree crime, absentee ballot fraud a third degree crime, tampering with public records, a third degree crime, falsifying records a fourth degree crime and forgery a fourth degree crime.
Four defendants are also charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, a third degree crime.
Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 fine, while third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Fourth-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
They allegedly solicited applications for messenger absentee ballots from individuals not qualified to receive them and had the voters not fill in the name of the messenger, so they could fraudulently designate themselves as the authorized messengers or bearers.
They allegedly obtained messenger ballots from the county clerk and submitted them to the board of elections as votes on behalf of voters who, in fact, never received or voted the ballots or, in some cases, were given only the security envelope for the ballot and were told to sign it. Those voters were not given the opportunity to vote in most instances.
They allegedly picked up sealed absentee ballots from voters, unsealed them and, if they were votes for mayoral candidates other than Small, destroyed them, thereby disenfranchising those voters. If they were votes for Small, they allegedly resealed them and submitted them as votes.
They allegedly illegally instructed voters to fill in messenger ballots as votes for Small.
They allegedly submitted voter registration applications and messenger ballot applications on behalf of individuals who were not residents of
They allegedly forged the signatures of voters on messenger ballots.
They allegedly fraudulently delivered messenger ballot applications and messenger ballots to voters simultaneously and instructed the voters to fill out both during the same visit.
Small and the indicted members of his campaign staff allegedly sought to maximize the number of absentee ballots messengered by the campaign by enlisting operatives and campaign workers to engage in fraud and by paying campaign workers based on how many messenger ballots they collected. The workers allegedly were told to direct voters to vote for the Small ticket, or simply have the voters sign the ballots so the workers could fill them out as votes for the Small ticket.
The campaign allegedly held an “autograph party” at which messengers selected by Small or by other defendants would fill in their own names as designated messengers on absentee ballot applications where that information had been left blank by the voters.
“Our investigation into alleged fraud in the June 2009 Democratic primary in
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