The controversial election contest in Hillside wound up moving more quickly than expected this morning after Superior Court Judge John Deitch set a speedy briefing schedule and a hearing for this Friday.
Deitch is now requiring attorneys to submit their briefs in a legal battle over council candidate Sonya McBurrows being thrown off the ballot by Thursday, and he could have a decision by the end of the week.
The lawsuit, filed on September 2, had originally been set by Deitch to be heard on October 3. This morning, Deitch rescheduled it for September 15, before finally agreeing to a public conference with attorneys this afternoon and a hearing on September 12.
Township Clerk Rayna Harris removed McBurrows from the ballot – her lawyer, Jason Sena, says it was done without first advising her of a challenge, forcing her to file a lawsuit.
Sena argued that Harris didn’t thoroughly review the voter rolls; one of the examples he cited was a signature from Bish. Tonnie Abrams, which the clerk rejected because there was no voter named Bish Abrams. According to Sena, this signatory was Bishop Tonnie Abrams, a 77-year-old clergyman. Who has lived in Hillside for over 25 years.
But Deitch never took responsibility for initially ignoring an emergent application. Instead, he pointed fingers: said he was never provided with a courtesy copy of the filing; that means he had to download it from the judiciary website.
Vote-by-Mail ballots go out on September 20. Deitch has halted the printing of Hillside ballots pending his decision.
