The Republican National Committee today filed a lawsuit alleging that the Bergen County Board of Elections illegally rejected an open public records request seeking a list of poll workers assigned to early voting sites and Election Day polling locations during the 2025 general election.
Republicans want to know if poll worker positions are given predominantly to members of one political party in violation of a state law that says the number of Democrats and Republicans are supposed to be equal.
According to the complaint, sixteen other counties complied with an identical request. Bergen refused, citing exemptions of “emergency or security information and “security measures and surveillance techniques.” The Republicans argue that the election board failed to explain how those exemptions apply.
This may put the state attorney general’s office in an uncomfortable situation. They represent each of the 21 county election boards, and most counties provided their lists in similar requests under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.
In addition to Bergen County, four other counties did not fulfill the OPRA request: Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, and Union. Only Bergen is the target of a lawsuit so far. (A Union County official disputes the RNC claim, saying they fulfilled the request in December and in January.)
The RNC requested a list of all poll workers, including each worker’s party affiliation and any vacancies at each polling location.
The Bergen County Board of Elections did not respond to the OPRA request for five weeks – well past the ten-day statutory window, court records show.
Josiah Contarino, the attorney for the Republican National Committee, argued in his filing that “disclosure will not impede the board’s function,” and that “the records identify only persons who have applied to be a poll worker in the public view and for remuneration.”
“Transparency promotes accountability in election administration and enhances public confidence,” said Contarino. “There is a strong public interest in ensuring voting sites are staffed
with bipartisan poll workers.”
The case has been assigned, at least for now, to Assignment Judge Carol Novey Catuogno. Contarino filed an order to show cause, which means there should be some movement on the legal challenge within the next few days.
Last week, a lawsuit filed by the RNC over the handling of voting records was dismissed by Mercer County Assignment Judge Robert Lougy, who said the New Jersey Division of Elections never created the document the GOP was seeking.