Former Atlantic City political leader Craig Callaway admitted to procuring, casting and tabulating fraudulent mail-in ballots during the 2022 general election.
Callaway, 64, who brought mail-in ballots to an artform, was arrested last February for orchestrating a group that cast mail-in ballots for those who later claimed they never voted.
“The defendant admitted to depriving New Jersey residents of a fair election by participating in a scheme to cast ballots for voters who did not vote in the election,” acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we are committed to prosecuting those who criminally seek to undermine impartially conducted elections.”
Callaway has been free on $50,000 bond.
About a month before the Nov. 8, 2022 general election, Callaway and others working under his direction approached numerous individuals in Atlantic City promising to pay them $30 to $50 to act as purported authorized messengers for voters who supposedly wished to vote by mail, according to the court filings.
After receiving Vote-By-Mail Applications from Callaway or his subordinates, these purported messengers entered the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office carrying anywhere from one to four completed vote-by-mail applications.
These individuals provided the office with proof of identification and signed the applications in the authorized messenger portion before handing those signed applications to office personnel, under Callaway's direction, the complaint claims. The purported messengers waited while office personnel processed the applications and, if the applications were approved, provided to the purported messengers mail-in ballots for the voters listed on the applications.
Under New Jersey law, a messenger is required to deliver any mail-in ballot they received directly to the voter who requested the ballots, and certify that they would do so. However, after receiving mail-in ballots, these purported messengers left the County Clerk’s Office and instead handed the ballots to Callaway or his subordinates, the allegations claim.
Callaway previously served 42 months in prison in the early 2000s, after admitting he took $36,000 in bribes in August 2006. In 2008, he admitted to helping to organize a blackmail scheme against fellow Councilman Gene Robinson while awaiting sentencing. The plot involved a videotape of a sexual encounter between Robinson and a prostitute at an Absecon hotel, later used to pressure him to resign his seat.
The former City Council president was once an ally of Mayor Marty Small, but the two have been at odds for years.
Many of the mail-in ballots collected by Callaway or his subordinates were ultimately cast in the names of people who have confirmed that they did not vote in the 2022 general election — either in person or by submitting a mail-in ballot — and that they did not authorize Callaway, his subordinates, or anyone else, to cast ballots for them, according to the allegations. Many of these mail-in ballots were counted in the election.
In March, a former Atlantic City councilman admitted to falsifying voter registrations.
While he did not mention Callaway, the terms of MD Hossain Morshed's release prior to the plea included that he be barred from contact with Callaway or his brother, David.
Craig Callaway's sentencing is scheduled for July 17.
The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.
Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman released a statement following the plea Thursday.
"It is my hope that Mr. Callaway's guilty plea will finally be the end of a sad chapter in Atlantic County history," he said.
"When Mr. Callaway was first charged, I was the only public official to say the quiet part out loud: that both Democrats and Republicans were to blame for Callaway's rise. While candidates of both political parties were inevitably desperate enough to hire him to win, both parties can ultimately be part of the solution," Suleiman said. "I applaud Senator Gordon Johnson and Assemblyman Sterley Stanley for sponsoring legislation I've advocated for that would prohibit payments to messengers and bearers. It is my hope that the Governor will ultimately sign this bill into law.
"Despite the efforts of Mr. Callaway over the years and the need to stop ballot harvesting once and for all, let me be clear: voters should not be afraid of voting by mail," he continued. "Voting by mail is still a safe, easy and convenient way to vote that is used by tens of thousands of voters in Atlantic County of all political parties. We cannot allow anyone to exploit Callaway's shenanigans to denigrate a form of voting that many voters, particularly seniors and the disabled, cherish."
