Superior Court Judge John E. Harrington yesterday set a tentative schedule for depositions and a trial in a ballot slogan case that has disrupted Mount Holly’s council election.
Mark Natale, who represents the Burlington County’s Clerk’s Office, said ballot disputes must be solved by September 23, giving the court less than three weeks to sort out whether a newly created corporation can bar candidates from running under a slogan they filed to use before the corporation existed. Three candidates must wait to see if they can use their slogan, “Mount Holly United,” as legal fees rack up during the expedited case.
While Natale said the Sept. 23 deadline was to ensure ballots are printed on time, Harrington did not discuss the potential harm that could come to candidates while they’re forced to campaign with the slogan situation in flux.
The spat in question started in June, when Casey Carty, Jason Fajgier, and Bjana Swinson filed to run for Mount Holly’s council under the slogan “Mount Holly United,” which they had been using for months. In July, three Burlington County residents established a corporation named the “Mount Holly United Corporation.” A subsequent filing asked the company to also be known as simply “Mount Holly United.”
Under New Jersey law, candidates cannot use slogans that contain the name of a corporation without written permission. In a last-minute move, a lawyer representing the new corporation asked Mount Holly’s Clerk to prohibit the candidates from using the slogan, which had been filed before the company existed.
Harrington, trying to cut through any potential gamesmanship, asked whether the corporation was created for political purposes. John Adams, the corporation’s lawyer, said, “It’s a charitable organization that gives out turkeys and stuff.”
Harrington scheduled a hearing for Monday at 10 AM, during which the parties will “check in” on the statuses of depositions and progress in the case.
Scheduling for the case is hampered by the fact that Adams, the attorney for the Mount Holly United Corporation and its founders, who are defendants in the case, has a Scotland vacation scheduled between September 10 and September 16. Harrington made clear he wants the case wrapped well before September 23 to give any further appeals time to play out.
“Deadlines are advisory, except the date of the election,” Harrington said.