Lawyer says Dover ballot lacked bilingual instructions

Some Spanish-speaking voters in Dover are protesting that certain components of the July 7 primary election vote-by-mail documents are printed only in English and violate an appellate court ruling last year that said election materials must be bilingual.

“While the ballot itself is bilingual, the Certificate of Mail-In Voter and ‘Penalty for Fraudulent Voting’ sections included with the ballot were printed solely in English,” said Scott Salmon, an attorney representing several Dover voters.

Salmon sought a court order after the 2018 primary to force Morris County to print ballots in English and Spanish for Dover, whose population a decade ago was 69.4%  Hispanic.

Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz denied the request, but he was overturned by the appellate court.

Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi disputed Salmon’s claim, saying bilingual ballot instructions were included.

“We actually out an instruction (letter) in Spanish in every ballot that went out to Dover,” Grossi said.  “We complied with everything the court required us to do.”