After a lengthy hearing in Somerset County, Superior Court Judge Lance Kalik allowed a Somerset County couple to vote in Union County, determining that they are still in the process of moving.
The two voters said they began sleeping at their new Somerset County home in late September, but they still own their home, which has been in Union County for more than three decades.
“We still have some of our belongings in Union County,” the voter said.
A deer-in-headlights deputy attorney general with little apparent knowledge of state election law appeared to complicate the proceedings – and fight to disenfranchise both voters.
She said only one of the two voters received a vote-by-mail ballot.
“That’s not true. We got a mail-in ballot for both me and my wife,” said the voter.
The deputy attorney general said they had no record of the woman voter being registered and disputed her claim.
A staffer for the Somerset County Board of Elections said the woman changed her registration on October 16 and that the county has already pulled her registration from Union, “so she’s listed as a pending voter. Hartman, more informed than the deputy attorney general, said that if the woman sends in her VBM ballot to Union County, it would likely be rejected.
Kalik asked if there was a danger of the couple double-voting if he permitted the two to vote in Somerset by machine. That question stumped the deputy attorney general, who asked for a break to get an answer. She eventually said that because the voters put their Union County residence up for rent in September, “evidences an intent to reside in Somerset.”
“We don’t think that that makes sense,” the deputy attorney general said. “I apologize because I said something different before.”
She said that if the judge allows them to vote in Somerset, it should be by provisional ballot, which would only be counted if the Union County VBMs are not returned.
But the voter made a counteroffer.
“We are willing to destroy the mail-in ballots in front of the court,” the man said. “I’ll cut them with a pair of scissors if that simplifies the matter.”
Responding to a question from Kalik, the two voters stated that they still receive mail in Union County and that they still have identification with their Union County address.
Kalik decided that the two voters are entitled to vote in Union County and both should return their vote-by-mail ballots.
“I believe this is a transitional type of situation that should be viewed to maximize the voting rights and enfranchisement of these voters,” Kalik said. “They should not be disenfranchised because of the durational aspect of their move.”
That created some public disagreement between the deputy attorney general and her client, who said that the VBM ballots would be rejected in Union County because the registration has now been transferred to Somerset, albeit too late for this year. The woman’s ballot had already been cancelled for Union County, the staffer said; the deputy attorney general either didn’t know that or didn’t understand it.
That led the judge to bypass the deputy attorney general and speak directly to the better-informed Somerset election official.
To obviate any further issues, Kalik told the man to vote by mail and the woman to vote in person in Union County.
The voter asked what to do if the woman goes to vote and her name isn’t on the voter rolls.
“You’ll have a court order,” Kalik said.
In a separate matter, Kalik permitted a Somerset County woman who moved from Hunterdon County in December 2024 to vote.
The woman testified that she went online three times between the end of September and the beginning of October to change her registration address, but was unsuccessful each time.
Kalik said he believed the voter was telling the truth.
“She attempted to register prior to the 21-day deadline,” he said. “It would be a disenfranchisement that would not be justified under these circumstances.”
In that case, a different deputy attorney general said the statute required voter registration to be completed by October 14, but that the Board of Elections took no position and would rely on Kalik’s judgment.
Kalik, the former co-managing partner at one of the state’s oldest law firms, Riker Danzig, is the son of former Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Barbara Kalik (D-Willingboro).
Barbara Kalik, now known as Barbara Bennett, had become the first woman to serve as mayor of Willingboro and won a State Assembly seat in 1977 after Charles Yates gave up his 7th district seat to successfully challenge an incumbent in the Democratic Senate primary. She served seven terms as an assemblywoman before becoming a casualty of the 1991 anti-Jim Florio Republican wave election.
The New Jersey Globe withholds the names of voters who appear before judges to protect their privacy.
Voters who feel they are being wrongfully disenfranchised have the right to make their case to a judge. This can be done remotely and arranged through the county Board of Elections.
