Man Charged With Voting Fraud For Interfering With Election

Photo by Kimberly Bosco

  MONOUTH COUNTY – A Middlesex County man has been charged with voting fraud after using his Highlands Borough business address to vote in Monmouth County general elections, instead of the district of his primary residence in Middlesex County, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

  After conducting an investigation, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office discovered that Steven Solop, 67, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township, had voted at the Highlands Borough, Monmouth County polling stations in New Jersey State General Elections between October 2015 through November 2019.

  Solop had fraudulently registered to vote in Monmouth County citing his business address on Bay Avenue in Highlands Borough as his primary residence. Although his primary residence is in Middlesex County, Solop wrongfully voted in Monmouth County elections. Instead, he should have lawfully registered to vote in his residential Woodbridge voting district. Records indicate that Solop was registered in 1996 and voted from 1999 through 2014.

  Solop is charged with third-degree fraudulent voting, interference with election and third-degree false registration. On April 8, Solop surrendered to investigators at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and was charged, processed and released on a summons pending a future court date.

  If convicted of a third-degree crime, Solop faces a custodial sentence of three to five years in a New Jersey state prison.

  The public are reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.