Progressives Sue to Get on South Jersey Ballots After Clerks Fail to Process Nominating Petitions

A group of progressive candidates filed suit against clerks in four South Jersey counties to ensure that they can compete in the upcoming primary election despite technical failures on the clerks’ part.

The clerks in Camden, Cape May, Gloucester and Cumberland counties failed to properly process nominating petitions submitted by progressive candidates under Executive Order 105, which Governor Murphy signed last month to ensure that elections could be conducted in a safe and fair manner during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Executive Order directed candidates to follow social distancing rules by gathering and submitting nominating petitions electronically to protect both voters and candidates from exposure to the virus.

These candidates complied with the Executive Order and submitted more than the 100 required signatures to get on the upcoming primary ballot.

But the clerks failed to properly open and process these submissions and rejected progressive candidates for freeholder and sheriff.

“Progressive candidates’ right to compete in the upcoming primary elections shouldn’t be denied because these clerks claimed technical difficulties prevented them from accepting their nominating petitions,” said Sue Altman, state director for New Jersey Working Families, which is coordinating the lawsuit. “We’re asking the courts to intervene to ensure that these clerks follow state law and Executive Order 105 and give voters a choice in the upcoming election.”

The case, filed in Mercer County Superior Court, asks that these candidates’ petitions be properly processed and that they be allowed to compete in the upcoming primary. Additionally, it asks the courts to intervene particularly in Camden County, where Clerk Joseph Ripa improperly rejected a series of petitions for other reasons.

“It comes down to this,  one technical glitch with a new untested process should not lock us out of the ballot box,” said Cape May County Freeholder candidate Musawwir Shaheed Bashir. “We have enough signatures and should be allowed to run.”

“In this time of pandemic, most of us have learned to focus on the important essential elements in life,” said Camden County Freeholder candidate Roberta Reevey. “Since Covid-19 has forced candidates to collect signatures for ballot petitions from online and since this is an unexpected trial run of exclusively DocuSign-collected signatures, it would seem that the important essential element would be whether or not the people who signed petitions are bona fide registered voters, not whether or not artificial intelligence delivered  technical perfection. To reject the signatures of registered voters for technical reasons under current uncertain circumstances amounts to a form of voter suppression.”

The candidates filing this lawsuit are:

·         Roberta Reavey and Dennis Gormley — freeholder, Camden County

·         Musawwir Shaheed Bashir and Deborah De La Cretaz – freeholder, Cape May County

·         Jeremiah Schenerman – sheriff, Cape May County

·         Noelle Jacquelin – clerk, Cape May County

·         Jack Surrency, Tracey L. Wells-Huggins and Donna M. Pearson — freeholder, Cumberland County

·         Dennis D’Augostine — sheriff, Cumberland County

·         Sherry Lynn Hall, Howard Clark and Lisa C. Bonanno — freeholder, Gloucester County

A copy of the complaint is attached.