No Vote Tampering, Criminal Intent In Mercer Co. Election, Officials Say

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Mercer County Prosecutor told County officials on Monday that his office found no vote tampering or criminal intent in the recently concluded election.

The County Clerk had requested the Prosecutor’s office to investigate whether problems during Election Day were an error or intentionally done.

After a week-long investigation, the Prosecutor presented his report during the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting on Monday.

“My office determined that there were not any vote tampering nor criminal intent. There was a miscommunication between Dominion Voting Systems and Royal Printing,” Prosecutor Angelo Onofri was quoted in a media release.

Onofri also refuted allegations of missing ballots in the County. More: Ballots Go Missing In Mercer County, Officials Go To Court

“The ballots in Robbinsville and Princeton were not missing,” Onofri was quoted. “The ballots were placed inside of the scanner’s bins and secured at the Mercer County Board of Elections.”

The County Prosecutor’s report brings an end to the investigation into what went wrong in Mercer County on Election Day. More: Voting Machine Issues Reported In Mercer Co. On Election Day: Clerk

The Mercer County Superintendent of Elections praised the County Prosecutor’s Office for its detailed probe.

“I am pleased that the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office was able to carry out its investigation of the Nov. 8 election expeditiously,” Nathaniel Walker, Superintendent of Elections said in a media statement.

“I applaud the Mercer County Commissioners for holding a public hearing on an issue of great interests and public importance for the residents of Mercer County.”

The County Prosecutor’s office has not yet responded to requests for further comment.

A day after Election Day, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said he was informed that ballots from one district had gone missing. In a message to the Township on Veterans Day, Fried told the community he was informed that the ballots were located.

Fried said it "appears that the documentation of the chain of custody regarding our ballots was quite poor, allowing the ballots to be apparently misplaced for a time."

As of Sunday, all remaining emergency and mail-in ballots on the November 8 election have been counted. The runoff elections have been postponed by a week by Lt. Gov. Shelia Oliver.

The Trenton runoff election will now be held on Dec. 13.

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