Judge denies full recount in 39th district Assembly race

A Superior Court Judge ordered a recount of voting machines in the close Democratic primary for State Assembly in the 39th district, but stopped short of approving a full recount and denied a hand count after a short court hearing this morning.

Demarest Councilman David Jiang filed for a recount after losing to former Woodcliff Lake Council President Donna Abene by 137 votes, 8,464 to 8,317.

Judge Kelly Conlon’s order applies to 11,461 Election Day machine votes and 1,807 in-person machine votes, but not the 6,654 vote-by-mail ballots and 225 provisional ballots.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s office strongly opposed a recount.  Deputy Attorney General Charles Shadle said Jiang showed no evidence that any mistakes were made in the original count.

“Under New Jersey law, a candidate is not entitled to a recount,” Shadle said.  “To be entitled to a recount, the candidate must present sufficient, competent, and credible evidence showing that there is a reason to believe that an error was made in the tabulation of votes after a candidate has presented such evidence.”

Shadle argued that Jiang didn’t offer any evidence, an argument that puts candidates at a disadvantage since they’re not permitted to inspect mail-in ballots to identify any issues.

“I’m struggling with the position of the state that has come with this opposition so strongly against a recount, so adamantly opposed to a very basic check on our democracy and our voting process,” said Jiang’s attorney, Michael Ash.  “This recount, on these facts, is vital in order to ensure that the voters of district 39 have properly, had their votes counted, their votes exercised, and making sure that the right individual was elected to this seat.”

Ash pointed to an 8,249-ballot under vote for this seat.

Bergen County Clerk John Hogan took no position on the recount.

Shadle said the recheck would take a few days.

Last week, a judge in Union County rejected a recount in a Democratic primary for Roselle Borough Council that was decided by just three votes, a difference of one-tenth of one percent — because the defeated candidate didn’t come forward with evidence of any vote-counting mistakes.  But another judge – this time in Ocean County – approved a recount in a Ship Bottom Council race where the difference between the two candidates was ten votes, or 2.6%.

Jiang’s running mate, former Dumont Mayor Andrew LoBruno, was the top vote-getter with 9,137; former Dumont Councilman Damon Englese finished fourth with 6,137 votes.

LoBruno and Jiang ran on a slate with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor; Abene and Englese ran with the endorsement of the Bergen County Democratic organization.