The New Jersey court’s Appellate Division has not responded to a Roselle councilwoman’s appeal of a decision late Friday that invalidated the results of the June Democratic primary for an at-large borough council seat and ordered the local Democratic party to pick a new candidate today.
Superior Court Judge John Deitch issued his order after business hours on Friday, and by then, the Appellate Division was closed. Deitch had distributed his decision to some parties, but not all, prior to the 4:30 court closing. The New Jersey Globe first reported Deitch’s ruling at 3:25 PM, and he had publicly announced it before the court closed.
“Within minutes of receiving this decision, (Councilwoman Denise) Wilkerson sought a stay from the trial, which was denied, and filed an application for an emergent appeal and a renewed motion to stay,” said Maximillan J. Ranzato, her attorney, in court documents filed today.
According to court documents, Wilkerson tried to contact the Appellate Division by phone and email, and reached out to the New Jersey State Police to contact a judge on call, but has received no response.
Deitch denied Wilkerson’s request that his ruling be stayed pending an appeal, even though his written decision had not been filed. In New Jersey, attorney court filings are time-stamped, but decisions and orders from judges carry just the date and not the time.
Deitch has been dealing with the Roselle matter since June, when Wilkerson defeated challenger Cynthia Johnson in the Democratic primary by three votes. He initially denied Johnson’s recount application, but the appellate division overturned him. A recount reduced Wilkerson’s margin to two votes.
Last week, Deitch ordered a do-over primary election after finding at least three voters were inadvertently disenfranchised by poll workers. But on Friday, Deitch changed his mind after discovering that he had no legal basis to order a new election. He ordered the local Democratic Party to select a new nominee; in that venue, Johnson is considered the favorite.
The Roselle Democratic County Committee is scheduled to meet at 6 PM tonight to select a general election nominee, and ballots are expected to be printed tomorrow morning. State law requires election officials to commence mailing vote-by-mail ballots on September 20.
“The primary was in June, and the court process has somehow led to the disenfranchisement of over 3,000 voters,” Ranzato said. “Wilkerson is uncertain how else she can seek emergent relief when the challenger to the primary will benefit from the court’s decision.”
