Belleville Councilman Kevin Kennedy has submitted a press release to the Watch detailing a complaint that he says was filed with both the U.S. and State Attorney General’s Offices, alleging voter fraud on the part of mayoral candidate Michael Melham.
We are in the process of reviewing documentation we requested from Kennedy’s camp. We’ll publish any appropriate supporting documentation shortly.
More details to follow as they develop.
For Immediate Release:
Contact Kevin Kennedy
Belleville Councilman Kevin Kennedy announced today that he had filed requests with both the federal U.S. Attorney in Newark and the state Attorney General in Trenton to investigate mayoral candidate Michael Melham for possible voter fraud. In his complaint Kennedy alleges that Melham who was a resident of Lyndhurst up until 12 months ago, would travel to Belleville and cast votes in 2013 and 2014. According to Kennedy, Melham moved out of his mother’s Belleville apartment when he purchased a one family home in Lyndhurst in 2011.
Kennedy pointed to three Lyndhurst Building Department building permit applications issued in April of 2011 in which Melham certified that he was the homeowner of 434 Park Place in Lyndhurst and that that was his home address and that the home was not a rental property. Kennedy also noted that the Lyndhurst Tax Assesor’s sent the tax bills to Melham at that address. In addition, in testimony before the Belleville Planning Board on September 12, 2013, Melham swore under oath that he was a resident of Lyndhurst residing at 434 Park Place. A month later, on October 16, 2013, Melham traveled to Belleville to vote in the special U.S. Senate election to fill the vacancy after Senator Torricelli resigned. The following year on May 13, 2014 Melham travelled to Belleville and attempted to vote in the Belleville municipal election. An Official Challenger recognized him and was aware that he was a Lyndhurst resident. He was asked to show his driver’s license which he refused to do.
In 2015 Melham filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Belleville. Kennedy pointed out that in his sworn court affidavit Melham stated that he was a resident of Lyndhurst in Bergen County. Kennedy’s package of documents which he sent to the prosecutors also included sworn statements by Melham to the New Jersey Treasury and the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission that his address was 434 Park Place in Lyndhurst in 2015 and 2016.
Kennedy also included a recent Observer newspaper article where reporter Ron Lier questioned Melham about the allegations. In his bizarre response Melham claimed that he was not a resident of Lyndhurst until moving there in 2016 despite all the documentation.
Kennedy pointed out that ordinary people have been imprisoned and deported for voting illegally. Kennedy cited a woman in Texas who two weeks ago was sentenced to five years in prison for voting illegally. Melham as a former elected official certainly knew the laws about voting, Kennedy said. In his letter to U.S. Attorney Carpenito and New Jersey Attorney General Grewal, Kennedy stressed that it was vital to enforce the voting laws and protect the integrity of the voting process.
Update: Here is some of the supporting documentation we acquired regarding the residency complaint. There were a few items that we decided were inappropriate for public release, and along with the complaint itself, should be left for the AG’s eyes only.
Some of the supporting docs:
2018 election literature showing a concise timeline of Melham’s residency as alleged by the Kimble/Kennedy/Hood camp:
Newspaper article from December 20, 2017, where Melham told The Observer that he lived in Lyndhurst in 2016:
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