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Their participation made a difference, as Democratic candidate Kenneth Brouwer won a Council seat over Republican Steven Hopper by eight votes. Five weeks later, an attorney for Hopper went to court, citing the illegal votes.
A Superior Court judge in Hackensack invalidated the results in January after questioning the voters.
Park Ridge held a new election, and Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli was notified.
Investigators determined that several people “violated criminal election statutes when they voted in Park Ridge in person or via mail-in ballot as they were no longer domiciled in Park Ridge,” the prosecutor said. “In addition, three defendants provided false statements on their ballot in regards to their residence.”
Those charged:
Brouwer’s brother, SCOTT BROUWER, 36, and sister-in-law, CARYN BROUWER, 33, both of 375 Butternut Avenue, Wyckoff;
ELIZABETH CLEARY, 45, of 1114 Hudson Street, Hoboken;
DANIELLE DEGIOVANNI-WOLETZ, 29, of 420 Passaic Street, Hackensack;
CHRISTINE GIBBONS, 38, of 521 Piermont Avenue, DAVID SHILLING, 66, of 703 Handwerg Drive, and GLEN PAGANO, a 35-year-old Paramus police detective, of 206 Rockland Avenue, all River Vale.
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