Crime & Safety
Elmwood Park Mayor Resigns, Charged With Voting Tampering
Francesco Caramagna, 74, resigned on Sunday. Authorities said he filled out parts of vote by mail ballot and election certification forms.
BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Former Elmwood Park Mayor Francesco Caramagna was arrested Monday, one day after he resigned as mayor, after authorities said he "interfered with the secrecy" of the 2017 mayoral election.
Caramagna, 74, was charged with interfering with the secrecy of the election process, a third-degree crime, said acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo.
Caramagna was arrested following an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office that began after it received a complaint in April. The complaint alleged that he interfered with vote by mail ballots in the 2017 mayoral election.
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The investigation revealed that from March 2017 and November 2018, Caramagna, completed portions of the vote by mail ballots and primary and general election ballot certifications of registered Elmwood Park voters, Calo said.
Caramagna was the first Democratic mayor of Elmwood Park in nearly 50 years. He was elected following longtime Mayor Richard Mola's death, NorthJersey.com reported.
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Caramagna is scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court May 22.
Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com
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