Atlantic County Republican Chairman Keith Davis released the following statement concerning the indictments of Democratic campaign workers and the Vote by Mail Act sitting on Governor Jon Corzine’s desk.

“Just when we thought the Callaway machine was dead, it reared its ugly head yet again in this past primary in the Atlantic City mayoral election.

“While the messenger and absentee ballot system is still being abused here, the Democratic majority in the state legislature is further liberalizing our election laws with the ‘Vote by Mail Act’, making it easier for political machines to manipulate elections in the future. If signed by Governor Corzine, this new law would permit voters to be added to a list where they would automatically receive absentee ballots for every future election. This would enable Callaway-type political organizations to control thousands of ballots throughout New Jersey.

“Senator James Whelan’s amendment to this legislation to limit a messenger to 10 absentee ballots total is a charade that will only force these organizations to grow their list of messengers. It won’t fix the problem.

“Governor Jon Corzine should veto the ‘Vote by Mail Act’ that is now sitting on his desk because it will make the situation we are currently witnessing in the Atlantic City mayor’s race even worse in future elections.

“Since I fear Governor Corzine will cater to groups like ACORN in his liberal base on this issue, I can only look forward to the election of Chris Christie as our next governor to tackle voter reform in a meaningful way so we can have fair elections in New Jersey once again.

“As U.S. Attorney, Christie was the only official who stood up to Craig Callaway and put him behind bars. He is the only candidate for governor who has the credibility and experience to tackle this issue.”

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