Judge finds probable cause in voting fraud case against Palisades Park mayoral candidate

A judge found probable cause for voter fraud charges against a Palisades Park councilwoman and current Republican mayoral candidate.

Probable cause was found for a fraudulent voting violation stemming from the June 2020 primary, when Councilwoman Stephanie Jang was running as a challenger in the Democratic primary for a council seat.

Since the incident, Jang has switched parties and is the Republican mayoral candidate in this November's election. She is challenging Democrat and current Councilman Chong “Paul” Kim.

After nearly a two-hour hearing on Oct. 20, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Anthony Gallina found probable cause for the charge, which is a third-degree indictable offense.

On June 11, 2020, Jang, allegedly violated vote-by-mail laws when she entered the Palisades Park senior center building, gathered and assisted individuals filling out their vote-by-mail ballots for herself, while she was a candidate.

The complaint was filed by David Lorenzo this April. Lorenzo is the chairman of the Palisades Park Democratic county committee and is the borough administrator.

New Jersey law states, "In no event may a candidate for election provide such assistance, nor may any person, at the time of providing such assistance, campaign or electioneer on behalf of any candidate."

In a statement, Jan's attorney John Azzarello said partisanship from the opposing political party fueled the allegations.

"Why Mr. Kim’s associates waited to file the complaint until Ms. Jang announced her run for mayor is no mystery," the statement read. "Ms. Jang’s campaign poses a challenge to Mr. Kim and those aligned with him who have mismanaged Palisades Park’s funds for decades."

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Azzarello called the accusations baseless and said they're confident the prosecutor's office will decide there was no crime.

Gallina said evidence provided showed that Jang's signature was on at least five mail-in ballots as the "assister."

Gallina said he found probable cause that Jang did in fact provide assistance by signing the ballots in question that was submitted into evidence. A summons and complaint will now be issued to the state and Jang will be issued a summons.

Since the alleged offense is a third-degree crime, Gallina said the probable cause will be sent to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office for review. Based on the prosecutor's office decision, it will determine if the court case will be scheduled in his court or somewhere else.

At the time of the incident in 2020, Jang's challengers claimed there was voter fraud that spurred an investigation.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Judge rules in Palisades Park voting fraud case of mayoral candidate