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Posted by Pepe Bonmot
on April 16, 2002 at 11:32:30:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kay LiCausi, HCDO, 201-420-8898 MENENDEZ ANNOUNCES CHALLENGE TO EDGAR MARTINEZ CANDIDACY JERSEY CITY - Rep. Bob Menendez (D-NJ-13) today announced a challenge to the recently declared candidacy of Edgar Martinez for the June 4th primary election for the 13th Congressional District. Menendez has documentation and intends to further prove in court that Edgar Martinez's petitions not only contain errors, but also were circulated in a way such that voters were intentionally misled. "Obtaining signatures for political petitions establishes a level of trust and support between the candidate and the voter," said Menendez. "The petitions filed by Edgar Martinez contain errors, were circulated by persons who intentionally misled the voters, and thus committed fraud in misleading them. This fraud unravels the trust between a voter and a candidate, and violates a principle that cannot be tolerated." According to signed affidavits collected by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, several circulators of Edgar Martinez's petitions did not clearly and openly state the purpose of the petition but rather claimed to be circulating petitions to 'bring more funding to local public housing developments' among other false and misleading statements. One of the signers signed an affidavit that said that she thought the petition was for Mayor Glenn Cunningham to run for Congress, not Edgar Martinez. Many of the petition signers state that circulators never mentioned that the petition was to nominate Edgar Martinez as a candidate for congress. In addition, individuals were unknowingly asked to sign as a circulator of the petition when they were not the circulator. The purpose of having a circulator is to clearly let the voter know the purpose of the petition that they are signing, as well as, ensuring that the individual qualifies to sign such a petition. One individual advised that they were not the circulator even though they unknowingly signed as such and other voters advised that the person listed as the circulator was not the person that approached them for their signature. "As a law enforcement officer, Edgar Martinez should not permit a fraud to be perpetrated on the voters of the 13th congressional district," Menendez added. Several of the persons who either signed or circulated the petitions for the democratic primary are either registered Republicans, not registered to vote, or live outside the boundaries of the 13th congressional district. "Being able to make an informed decision regarding your support of a candidate is the right and privilege of every American citizen," stated Menendez. "When a candidate misleads a voter, he undermines this process and infringes on every voters' rights. As your Congressman and as a democratic candidate, I seek to unify the party, to continue to work to better our communities, and to provide the voters with a campaign they can continue to believe in and support." ### |
