Superior Court Judge John Deitch has overturned the results of the Democratic primary for Roselle Borough Council, ordering a new primary election to be held between incumbent Denise Wilkerson and challenger Cynthia Johnson.
Wilkerson had defeated Johnson by two votes, 1,496 to 1,494, causing Johnson to challenge the results, citing election irregularities and disenfranchised voters.
“At least two voters were disenfranchised by irregularities in the voting procedures,” Deitch said. “The results of the election must be set aside, and a new election held forthwith.”:
The stunning decision marks a reversal for Deitch, who had initially rejected Johnson’s bid for a recount of the June 10 primary. An appellate court ordered the recount, which dropped Wilkerson’s margin from three votes to two.
Deitch found that Johnson’s attorneys, Matt Moench and Alyssa Duffy Zara were correct in arguing that one voter “was deprived of her vote when the poll worker failed to submit her ballot as promised,” that a second voter “was deprived of his vote when the poll worker destroyed his provisional ballot,” and that a third voter “was deprived of her vote…when she was erroneously sent to Elizabeth to cast her vote.”
Because the matter took 84 days to finally get a court hearing, there is no time to hold a new primary before vote-by-mail ballots go out in about two weeks. It’s not clear how a general election gets cancelled because a primary produced no winner.
Deitch specifically ruled out allowing the Roselle Democratic County Committee to pick a new candidate.
Wikerson could appeal, although the window for the judiciary is incredibly narrow.
Republicans have no candidate on the ballot, but a write-in candidate might have standing to have a say in the next steps.
