Self-defense of voting rights paid off for two voters in Union County on Tuesday when they appeared before a Superior Court Judge in a bid to vote in Tuesday’s primary election.
Each of the voters had recently moved to Union County more than 30 days ago from a different county and had believed their change of address with the Motor Vehicles Commission also changed their voter registration.
They were authorized to vote by the judge.
Voters turned away at the polls have the right to appear before the judge on Election Day to protect them from being disenfranchised.
Today, Superior Court Judge Kevin Shanahan ordered election officials to open four voting machines where the memory stick that includes results was inadvertently left in the machine rather than delivered to the Board of Elections.
None of the municipalities affected – Bethlehem in Hunterdon County, and Montgomery, North Plainfield, and Rocky Hill in Somerset – have elections where the outcome would be affected.
“Once the machines are closed after the close of the polls, they have to remain locked for fifteen days,” said Deputy Attorney General George Cohen. “The statute also says unless you need to get into it, then you make an application to the Superior Court.”
Once the team of one Democrat and one Republican extracts the memory stick, the machine will be resealed.
In Atlantic County, electronic poll books in one Atlantic City Ward 3 district were “inadvertently locked” inside the machine, according to Deputy Attorney General Steven Gleeson.
Judge Michael Blee authorized a bi-partisan team of election workers to retrieve the poll books.
One memory card was left behind in Pittsgrove District 1. Judge Benjamin Tesley ordered that machine opened by a Democrat and Republican and then closed again.