Two separate lawsuits filed in state court to determine whether Republicans can have organization lines in the June primary will be merged into one, possibly setting the stage for a winner-take-all decision.
Burlington County Assignment Judge Jeanne Covert ordered the consolidation of the two issues today, citing a court rule designed to “eliminate multiplicity of litigation.
Both legal actions stem from a preliminary injunction signed by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi on March 29 mandating the use of office block ballots in the June 4 primary. The issue became a little more chaotic the following day when Quraishi clarified his order to apply only to Democrats since Republicans never challenged the process.
Last week, Burlington County Clerk Joanne Schwartz decided to apply the decision to both parties, taking the line away from the GOP. Sean Earlen, the Republican county chairman, went to court to get his line back.
On Saturday, an attorney representing U.S. Senate candidate Albert Harshaw and House candidates Shirley Maia-Cusick, Gregg Mele, and Hector Castillo filed a lawsuit in Mercer seeking to ban GOP organization lines in eighteen counties, putting both parties on the same footing.
John Harrington, a Superior Court judge in Burlington, will hear both cases.
Harrington will be in a race against the clock. Ballots are due to be printed next week in most counties, and the statutory deadline to commence mailing vote-by-mail ballots is April 20.
Last week, Harrington set an expedited briefing schedule with briefs due by today and tomorrow and an in-person hearing on Wednesday.
But Covert’s consolidation order requires all parties involved to be notified within seven days – April 15—which potentially puts county clerks in violation of a federal law that mandates the mailing of military and overseas ballots by April 20. It’s not clear how that will effect Wednesday’s hearing.
One option for Harrington could be to move the date of the primary election.
Further complicating the issue is an expedited appeal of Quraishi’s order before the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are set for Friday morning.