Primary Candidates Allege Voter Fraud, Head to Court

Lawyers for Parsippany Primary Council candidates, who were ahead in the primary elections until the mail-in ballots were tallied, are having trouble getting witnesses to answer court subpoenas in a lawsuit challenging the validity of numerous mail-in ballots, according to recent reports.

Michael Strumolo, a current Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education member, and Council Vice President Vincent Ferrara each filed petitions with Superior Court Assignment Judge Thomas Weisenbeck in Morristown contesting the results of the June 4 primary, which named Robert Peluso and Louis Valori as winners.

Ferrara has since dropped out of the lawsuit, according to nj.com.

Lawyers for Strumolo and Ferrara had been unsuccessful in trying to subpoena James Vigilante, who lost in the GOP primary for the County Clerk's job, said Strumolo's attorney Brian Aloia told the Daily Record.

According to nj.com, several witnesses have testified that Vigilante gave them mail-in ballots to certify, or sign and turn in.

Election laws prohibit candidates from handling mail-in ballots and also require that a mail-in ballot submitted on behalf of another voter must be signed by whoever submits it. The person submitting the ballot also must have received it directly from the voter.

“Each of the people testified that Vigilante gave them a stack of votes, and that they never met any of the voters,” the report by nj.com says.

Aloia told the court that Vigilante could have distributed as many as 50 votes in that fashion.

However, attempts to serve Vigilante with a subpoena, which must be given to him in person or to an adult member of he household, have been unsuccessful.

The lawsuit will resume at 9 a.m. on Monday Aug. 19 at Morris County Superior Court in Morristown.