U.S. Department of Justice Charges Hoboken Woman with Vote-By-Mail Bribery Scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a Hoboken woman with using the U.S. Mail to promote a voter bribery scheme, according to a statement made by the United States Attorney’s Office – District of New Jersey.

Lizaida Camis, 55, of Hoboken, is charged with a violation of the Travel Act for using the mail to aid voter bribery that is in violation of New Jersey state law. She is scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court.

According to the statement:

From October 2013 through November 2013, Camis agreed to pay certain Hoboken voters $50 each if those voters applied for and cast mail-in ballots for the November 2013 Hoboken municipal election. Camis provided these voters with VBM Applications and then delivered the completed applications to the Hudson County Clerk’s office. After the mail-in ballots were delivered to the voters, Camis went to their apartments and, in some cases, instructed the voters to vote for the candidates for whom Camis was working. Camis promised the voters that they would be paid $50 for casting their mail-in ballots and told them that they could pick up their checks after the election at an office on Jefferson Street in Hoboken. Bank records show that voters living in Hoboken received $50 checks from entities associated with the campaigns that employed Camis.

Camis faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The statement failed to mention the campaign for which Camis was working. hMAG has reached out to that former councilperson in hopes of a statement, and will update this article should we get any more information.

Nevertheless, this case will likely bring the time-honored tradition of “vote harvesting” into focus—a tradition that is as much a part of Hoboken culture as bread, mutz and water main breaks.

Stay tuned…