ICYMI-Voting Tony Soprano Would Approve of

Sometimes we are reluctant to talk about vote fraud for we may give some on the left new ideas.  A great example of that is the infamous messenger ballot system used in New Jersey.  As the Press of Atlantic City details in an editorial entitled “Messenger ballots/Invitation to fraud”:

The law allows a voter to use an authorized messenger to hand-deliver a ballot instead of mailing it. Under the law, a single messenger can deliver up to 10 ballots. And the family of former Atlantic City Council President Craig Callaway - who served nearly a year in prison in 2010 for his role in a scheme to blackmail a city councilman - has been remarkably effective at providing this "service" to voters.

So the family of a corrupt New Jersey politician is in charge of providing a voting “service” to voters.  Sounds like something out of the Sopranos.  As the editorial goes on to describe:

In the recent Pleasantville school-board election, three candidates who appeared to have lost at the polls won after the mail-in and messenger ballots were counted. One of the victors was Carla Thomas, the daughter of Maurice "Pete" Callaway. Ten people with the last name Callaway were the authorized messengers for 96 ballots in that election.

With dubious results like these, we fully expect the Brennan Center to come out in support of messenger ballots. (We’re joking, we hope.)  Messenger Ballots are another example of a potential dirty trick that has been seemingly abused.  Don’t take our word for it listen to the The Press of Atlantic City:

But considering the questionable role that hundreds of hand-delivered messenger ballots have played in local elections, why should the state sanction that process?

The risk would seem to clearly outweigh any benefit. The messenger-ballot system simply invites vote fraud.