"The circulator does not have to be a signer of the petition but must be an individual who is affiliated with the same political party named in the petition, at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States and not otherwise disqualified from voting." (N.J.S.A. 19:23-11).

That state statue guided an early decision this afternoon by Administrative Law Judge Michael Stanzione, which he moments later reversed.

"I am bound by the statute," Stanzione said initially. "A person who circulates shall be a registered voter in this state of the same political party named in the petition. I don't think I can venture off that."

Thus, in this ongoing case did the judge disallow 83 initially reviewed signatures in the challenged petition of CD-12 candidate Sue Altman.

But Stanzione later issued a new judgment (see below).

The challengers in this case contend that Altman's signatures contain numerous disqualifying features, including inadequate party affiliation by signers, statute defying circulator party registration, mismatched addresses, and false names.

Stanzione made his initial decision with 891 remaining signatures on his plate to examine, and a threshold of 500 signatures required for Altman to stay on the ballot.

But Brett Pugach, the candidate's lead attorney, argued that the circulator for Altman did change her party affiliation (from Green to Democrat) after Eric Salcedo, Jansel Fuentes Jimenez and Liz Rosenberg filed their challenges of the candidate's signatures.

"That's not curing a defective petition - that's changing the game," countered Salcedo's attorney, Robert Renaud. "Our position is the [Michael] Byrne case doesn't apply to a party affiliated circulator.

"The petition is not curable."

After returning from a five-minute break, the judge disagreed, accepting Pugach's argument and allowing 35 petition signatures on grounds that the petition circulator changed her party affiliation within three days of the challenger's filing.