The lawyer representing the Monmouth County Clerk’s office in Andy Kim’s lawsuit challenging organization lines told a federal judge today that it’s too late in the game to change the rules of the June primary election.
Brian Nelson said that county clerk, Christine Giordano Hanlon, a Republican, has “significant practical concerns” that a ruling in Kim’s favor “could wreak havoc in the administration and conduct of this year’s primary elections for both political parties.”
With county committee seats up for grabs, Monmouth has more than 2,000 candidates to place on ballots this year in 53 jurisdictions in over 400 voting districts.
“Our client’s ballot designs, processes, and machines are all programmed and coded to be compliant with current law,” Nelson said in court filings. “Even if the relief sought by plaintiffs were granted today, it would be practically impossible to re-code and re-program the machines in time to be delivered to each election district for the primary election.”
Nelson also took issue with the characterization that Election Day is June 4.
“The casting of votes starts long before the counting of ballots upon the closing of the polls on Election Day,” he said. “Vote-by-mail ballots must start being mailed on April 20th (45 days before election day), and those ballots must be sent to the printer on April 5th.”
U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi will hold a conference with attorneys from both sides tomorrow morning.