It’s Election Day in ten N.J. municipalities with non-partisan local elections

 

Good morning, New Jersey.

It’s always election season in New Jersey, and May is no different—voters in ten Garden State municipalities will elect local officials Tuesday.

Competitive council or commission elections are being held in Collingswood, Hackensack, Haddonfield, Lyndhurst, and Sea Isle City, and Passaic City Mayor Hector Lora faces a challenge in his bid for re-election.

In Hackensack, Mayor John Labrosse is seeking re-election with a reshuffled city council slate. Deputy Mayor Kathy Canestrino is seeking another term with Labrosse, but new additions to the slate include Lance Powell, Marlene Somerville, and Richard Garcia.

Some reshuffling was needed for Labrosse after incumbent Councilman Leo Battaglia faced calls to resign after he allegedly directed racist comments toward a high school soccer coach. Battaglia told the New Jersey Globe he would resign, but never appeared to do so.

Labrosse was elected to the city council in 2009, and in 2013, he became the sole incumbent to run again. His reform slate knocked out a group backed by former Mayor Jack Zisa and the city’s Democratic municipal chair, Lynn Hurwitz.

All five council seats are up for grabs in Hackensack, Bergen County’s largest city. The Labrosse Team faces a challenge from the “Hackensack Unites” slate, featuring Caseen Gaines, Agatha Toomey, Roberto Diaz, Philip Carroll, and Sonya Clark-Collins.

The race isn’t cheap: Labrosse Team has raised more than $188,000, and the challengers have raised more than $140,000, according to campaign finance disclosures.

There is no mayoral race: the city council selects a mayor from within its members; there is little doubt that Labrosse will keep his job if a majority of his slate wins.

In Lyndhurst, five commissioner seats are up for grabs: four incumbents are on the Lyndhurst Strong ticket, while one incumbent is among the Lyndhurst Pride candidates.

The Lyndhurst Strong ticket features Mayor Robert Giangeruso, Commissioners Louis DeMarco, Karen Haggerty, and Richard Jarvis Sr., and David Mateen. Giangeruso is seeking a sixth term as commissioner.

For Lyndhurst Pride, Commissioner John Montillo Jr., Dominick Abbate Jr., Darius Hughes, Theresa Sedlock, and Stephen Morinho are seeking election.

An 11th Lyndhurst candidate is running alone: former Mayor Richard DiLascio.

All three commissioner seats are up in Collingswood, where Mayor Jim Maley is seeking another term alongside Commissioner Morgan Robinson and Becky Sieg. Commissioner Rob Lewandowski is not seeking reelection.

Maley’s team defeated a slate of progressive challengers in 2021, and this year will look to defeat the Collingswood Forward ticket, featuring Meghan Adamoli, Amy Henderson Riley, and Daniela Solano-Ward.

A seventh candidate, insurance broker Stuart Slattery, reportedly told NJPEN he doesn’t plan on campaigning hard for the commissioner seat.

Hector Lora, the popular mayor of the City of Passaic, the state’s 16th largest municipality, is up for re-election. He faces a challenge from Diomedes Minaya, who has run for various local positions 12 times this century but hasn’t won.

In Sea Isle City, incumbents JB Feeley and Mary Tighe are joined by Michael Jargowsky in seeking the council’s three seats. The trio has the backing of Leonard C. Desiderio, who has served as Sea Isle City mayor since 1993 and Cape May County Commissioner since 2003.

They face a challenge from Ian Ciseck and Steven Cossaboon.

Jack Gibson, a 91-year-old former assemblyman who at one point served alongside now-Rep. Jeff Van Drew, is not seeking re-election to Sea Isle City’s council.

Four candidates are seeking Haddonfield’s three commissioner seats, including incumbents Dave Siedell and Frank Troy. Also on the ballot are zoning board official William Shanahan and former White House tech expert Itir Cole.

Uncontested municipal elections will also be held in Audubon, Avalon, Cedar Grove, and Monmouth Beach.

As long as you arrive before 8 PM, you will be permitted to vote.  Polling places must remain open until every voter who arrives on time gets to vote.  Use the Division of Elections website to find out.  Click HERE.   To check your voter registration status, click HERE.

If you use the U.S. Postal Service this late, your vote may not count; the U.S. Postmaster General has said he couldn’t assure the delivery of ballots mailed less than a week before Election Day.  Use only Secure Ballot Drop Box locations in the county you live in.  Click HERE for a list.

Click HERE to sign up for a Track Your Ballot account.  It’s free and private.  Voters need to take responsibility for their own vote.  Contact a county election official.  You will have the option of going to the county election office and getting a replacement VBM ballot.  Or go to your regular polling place and ask for a provisional ballot.  Click HERE for a list of county election officials.

Remember, a provisional ballot is the same as a machine vote.  You have a right to cast a provisional ballot if you believe you are entitled to vote, but your name does not appear on the electronic poll book list of registered voters.   You may also vote with a provisional ballot if you moved within your original county and not registered at your new address or moved to a new county within 30 days of Election Day – but you may not vote if you moved from another county or another state 31 days before.  Remember that the number one cause of provisional ballots is a vote-by-mail ballot already sent to you.  Don’t worry if you can’t locate it; you may use a provisional ballot.  Just don’t vote twice.

Voters should not readily accept being turned away.  Ask to speak to the person in charge, known as the Super Poll Worker, the individual who is most fluent in ways that can help you vote.

Here are three things to know:

1. You have a right to ask for and cast a provisional ballot.  Don’t let anyone say you can’t.  Then fight against your own disenfranchisement this week when things are less hectic
2. If you are not allowed to vote or feel incorrectly pushed to vote on a provisional ballot when you’re entitled to vote on the machine, you can present your case to a Superior Court Judge to determine your eligibility to vote.  Judges will be on call for each of the nine days of early voting; hearings are done remotely, and you can attend a hearing via Zoom from your phone at a polling location.
3. Ask about the Presidential Ballot Law of 1964 (N.J.S.A. 19:58-1), which may allow registered voters who moved to a different county to cast a ballot only for the presidential election.  Remember, lots of deputy attorneys general and judges have never heard of this.

If you intend to appear before an election judge, call the ACLU Voter Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) or contact your county election officials.  Click HERE for a list.

If you are a first-time voter and registered by mail, you will be asked to show identification at the polls.  If you don’t bring an acceptable form of ID, you may vote by provisional ballot and then get your ID to your county election office within 48 hours to have your vote counted.

If you have a disability, a friend or family member can help you, as long as it’s not Craig Callaway.  A poll worker must offer a reasonable accommodation.  If they don’t, you may file a complaint with the Division of Civil Rights, either online or by calling the NJBIAS Hotline at 1-833-NJDCR4U (1-833-653-2748).

If you have changed your name since registering to vote, you have the right to vote under your original name.

As a New Jersey voter, you have a right to vote without intimidation, threats, coercion, or interference.  Anyone who believes their vote has been interfered with or seeks to report voting-related issues can call the New Jersey Voter Information and Assistance line at 877-NJVOTER.  You may also contact the American Civil Liberties Union hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE.  Click HERE to read the Attorney General’s guidance on the role of law enforcement in election activities.

If you’re uncertain if your vote was counted, ask a poll worker for help. If a voting machine malfunctions, ask for a paper ballot.  That counts the same.

Reminder: it’s illegal to solicit or electioneer voters within a “protective zone” as voters enter or exit a polling location.  The “protective zone” extends 100 feet from the outside entrance of any polling site.  Report any attempts to interfere with voters within this zone to local law enforcement.

New Jersey has a law that prohibits anyone from wearing anything that advocates for a candidate, slogan, or issue.  Voters may bring their children into the voting booth.