DeLanzo Campaign Questions Voll’s Residency; Voll Responds

COURT HOUSE — The Middle Township Committee race has lately focused on the question of Independent Michael J. Voll’s residency, based on voting records in Florida. He is to appear before the Cape May County Board of Elections on Wed., Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. to address the matter, and to ascertain if he is eligible to vote here, something he claims he is.
The following is a release issued by Bob Noel, campaign manager for Middle Township Mayor Susan DeLanzo.
“Voll registered to vote in Florida on April 8, 2005.
“Shockingly, Voll then voted in the Middle Township School Board election just 11 days later on April 19, 2005.
“Voll then registered in Middle Township in June 2005, just two months after having he registered in Florida.
“Voll remained registered in Florida and in Middle Township for the next five years.
“Voll was aware of his dual registration as evidenced by the fact that since 2005 he voted in Middle Township, then he voted in Florida in November 2008, then voted in Middle Township again, without ever registering again in either place after 2005.
“Voll was quoted in the Cape May County Gazette that being registered in two places at one time “would be illegal.”
“Voll continued to maintain his voter registration in Florida, and in Middle Township, conduct he admits is illegal.
“Voll posted on his web site the following comment: “I voted in the presidential election while I was in Florida in 2008 at our family condo. As soon as I returned back home, I registered here and advised on the printed form that I had voted in Florida. The CMC Board of Elections then notified Florida to take me off their roles – Florida failed to do so!”
“Voll is wrong. There is not any record that he attempted to register in Cape May County after November 2008. His last registration was in June 2005.
“Voll’s voting record raises the question about his credibility to lead. He seems to think that a different set of rules applies to him. Voll seems to think that he can flip-flop his residency at his whim, and without consequences. The Board will decide if he is a legitimate voter in Middle Township. Whatever the outcome, the facts call into question Voll’s intentions, his integrity, and indicates that Voll is not even sure where he lives, or where he wants to live,” Noel stated.
***
On Sept. 5, the DeLanzo campaign issued the following release:
Middle Township Committee Candidate Michael J. Voll has had his voting residency called into question. He admits that he voted in Florida in 2008.
Why did Voll vote in Florida?
To avoid paying Florida property taxes!
Florida law gives to its permanent residents a $50,000 reduction in their property assessment IF the property owners are full time residents. See www.pcpao.org/Exemptions , which is the Pinellas County, Florida, Property Assessor’s Office webpage. It reads in pertinent parts: “Homestead exemption is a constitutional benefit of a $50,000 exemption from the property’s assessed value. It is granted to those applicants with legal or beneficial title in equity to real property as recorded in official records who are bona fide Florida residents living in a dwelling and making it their permanent home on January 1 of the taxable year. . . . The exemption results in approximately a $500 – $800 property tax savings to Florida residents. When you purchase a home and want to qualify for an exemption, you must file your application in person at one of our offices.”
Records of the Pinellas County Florida Tax Collector, attached, indicate clearly that Voll benefited from this full-time, bona fide Florida resident exemption in 2009 for Voll’s residence at 12900 Vonn Road #C101, Largo, Florida 33774-2532.
The exemption reduced his property taxes by approximately $800.
His mailing address is listed at 12900 Vonn Road, #101, Largo Florida 33774-2532.
His mailing address is not listed in Middle Township, New Jersey.
Bob Noel, Susan DeLanzo’s campaign manager stated in the release: “Florida does not just give these homestead exemptions willy-nilly. A property owner has to actually physically go to the office and apply for it. You have to show them that you are a full-time Florida resident. You have to take to them a Florida Voter’s Registration or Declaration of Domicile. It seems odd that Voll could say he is a full-time Florida resident as of December 31, 2009, and then run for office in Middle Township in June 2010.”
***
VOLL’S RESPONSE:
On Sept. 4, Voll posted the following on his website:
September 4, 2010 Hearing before the Board of Elections
There has been so much confusion on the attempts to get me out of the election process by the DeLanzo campaign manager Bob Noel, that I have decided to let the Board of Elections sort it all out on Wednesday. Bottom line is that the good people of Middle Township will not be denied an election to fill the seat on Middle Township Committee. “We look forward to going to the Cape May County Board of Elections and going on with the campaign.”
***
Voll, told the Herald on Fri., Sept. 3 that he voted in the 2008 Presidential election in Florida, while at his family’s residence there, and so notified the Cape May Board of Elections, which was to have notified the board in Florida.
He verified that his response to the matter is contained on his website’s blog printed below:
September 1, 2010
Hearing before the Board of Elections
“My opponent Susan DeLanzo has been trying to deny the people of Middle Township an election in November. Bob Noel, her manager has made a formal complaint with the Cape May County Board of Elections stating that I am a registered voter in Florida and Cape May County. He wants to the Board of Elections to deny me as a candidate for Middle Township Committee.
“I first was questioned by a report (sic) a couple of weeks ago, are you a voter in Florida? I had no idea what he was getting at, he said he had an anonymous caller saying I was registered to vote in Florida. Than a radio station also had an anonymous call, again cowardly hiding.
“I voted in the presidential election while I was in Florida in 2008 at our family condo. As soon as I returned back home, I registered here and advised on the printed form that I had voted in Florida. The CMC Board of Elections then notified Florida to take me off their roles – Florida failed to do so!
“How desperate can Bob Noel and my opponent get? He knows I have been a resident and taxpayer of Middle Township consistently for the last 35 years!
“My opponent and her campaign manager do not want to debate me or talk about the issues facing the voters and taxpayers in Middle Township. I have asked her twice for dates to have public debates, no response!
“After next Wednesday’s hearing when the real facts come out before the Board of Elections, they are going to be forced to start talking!