Nine Democrats running in the July 16 special Democratic primary for Congress in New Jersey’s 10th district have asked Secretary of State Tahesha Way asking her to toss LaMonica McIver from the ballot.
“We believe one of our colleagues, LaMonica McIver, submitted a fraudulent candidate petition to the Division of the Elections,” the group of candidates said. “In doing so, Ms. McIver has perpetrated a fraud on the State of New Jersey, jeopardizing the integrity of our electoral process.”
Administrative Law Judge Kim Belin determined that McIver could remain on the ballot, rejecting an allegation by another candidate, Brittany Claybrooks, that the sole circulator of the nominating petition, McIver’s mother, Robin, could not possibly have secured 1,081 signatures herself between in less than three days.
“To claim that a single circulator collected 1,081 signatures in less than three days is as believable as claiming that a person ran a 26-mile marathon in under two hours,” said Claybrooks, in a letter also signed by Eugene Mazo, Derek Armstead, Darryl Godfrey, Shana Melius, John Flora, Alberta Gordon, Sheila Montague and Debra Salters. Only Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker did not.
The candidates were highly critical of Belin, claiming she “refused to hear any evidence of this fraud came as a shock to us last week.”
“We understand that this judge may have been uncomfortable wading into the political currents,” the candidates said. “But this is not about politics. It is about protecting the voters of New Jersey from fraud. Election laws, though often liberally construed, cannot be ignored altogether.”
They added, “If a candidate fails to meet the threshold of 200 signatures, she must be denied access to the ballot. The same applies when a candidate’s circulator submits a demonstrably false affidavit to the state. Robin McIver’s affidavit, submitted to the Division of Elections on May 6, constitutes the hallmark of dishonesty.”
The final authority on whether to accept or reject Belin’s ruling wrests with Way, and she must do so by Monday at noon.
“We do not take this matter lightly. All primary candidates in New Jersey must be subject to the exact same rules of ballot access. If the laws governing the petition process are to have any meaning, they must be enforced consistently. Nothing is more critical to democracy than ensuring the integrity of our elections,” the nine candidates to replace the late Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. said. “To show how seriously we take this matter, we are signing our names below and speaking with a united voice on this issue.”