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PATERSON — The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office this week provided lawyers for indicted Paterson Councilmen Michael Jackson and Alex Mendez with thousands of pages of alleged evidence in the state election fraud case against them. Lawyers for the two councilmen said they will closely review the files they received from the state in the “discovery” part of the criminal case, the point when the prosecution shares with the accused whatever evidence it plans to use. They said the volume of documents should not be seen as a sign that the state has a strong case. “The quantity doesn�...

PATERSON — Councilman Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty on Thursday afternoon to election fraud charges filed against him in a five-count state grand jury indictment. In the virtual arraignment, Jackson said state authorities had failed to fulfill their commitments to provide him with copies of the discovery — or the alleged evidence in the case — that was the basis for the charges contained in a complaint filed by the office of state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal last year. Deputy Attorney General Eric Cohen said the state had been waiting to share the evidence until after the indic...

Mendez, 45, and Paterson City Councilman Michael Jackson, 49, were originally charged in a criminal complaint last June. Despite the pending criminal charges, Mendez won a tight race in November. The indictments handed up last month charge Mendez and Jackson with multiple counts including election fraud, unauthorized possession of ballots and falsifying or tampering with public records. The state attorney general’s office alleged the men collected ballots from voters and delivered them to county officials, which candidates are prohibited from doing. The ballots also allegedly lacked require...