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Katherine Fokas of Monroe and Lori Mulligan of Parlin were given voting fraud-related charges, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said in a news release on Friday, Nov. 1. The investigation began after prosecutors received from the county's elections board.
Investigators said Fokas, 57, tried to apply for a mailed ballot using a dead family member's identity. She was charged with third-degree submitting a forged application for a mail-in ballot, impersonation, and forgery.
Mulligan, 58, was also suspected of voting in the name of a dead family member. She was charged with third-degree fraudulently voting by mail.
Despite increased concerns during contentious elections, experts say voter fraud remains extremely rare.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, an analysis of the 2004 Presidential election in New Jersey uncovered eight cases of people knowingly casting invalid ballots and voting twice. That amounted to just 0.0004 percent of the 3,611,691 votes in the Garden State.
Anyone with information about the accusations against Fokas or Mulligan should call the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3447.
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