Another year, another judicial definition of domicile in election contest

In New Jersey election matters, if you’ve seen one judge, you’ve seen one judge.

If Lindsey Gieger lived in Lambertville, she would likely have been permitted to vote in this year’s general election, but her residency in Harvey Cedars put her in front of a different judge with an alternative view of domiciles that led to her being disenfranchised in 2023.

Gieger, 29, wanted to vote in the small Ocean County municipality where her father was running for borough commissioner.   But Mayor John Oldham, running as a write-in candidate, challenged her eligibility to vote since she was renting an apartment in Boston.

A self-described digital nomad who works remotely, Geiger testified that she considered Harvey Cedars as her home.  She told Superior Court Judge Therese Cunningham that she’s been spending summers there for her entire life and that she now spends over 104 days annually at her parent’s home on Long Beach Island.

According to Gieger, she paid New Jersey state income tax in 2020 and 2021 and expects to this year.  She said she banks in Manahawkin.

But Matthew Moench, an attorney representing Oldham, argued that unlike other adult children who continue to use their parents’ home to vote, Gieger had never been a voter in Harvey Cedars; she grew up in Chatham, before her family became full-time Ocean County residents, and has moved around to different states for work.    Moench said Gieger is a registered voter in Massachusetts; Geiger acknowledged that she has a Massachusetts driver’s license and her car is registered and insured there.

Cunningham took a different view than Superior Court Judge Michael O’Neill in Hunterdon County, who ruled last year that voters may have multiple residences but only one domicile.

“Residents but one may have several residences or places of abode for business the basic concept underlying domicile is that of home,” said O’Neill, who cited court opinions that the disenfranchisement of voters ought to be a last resort.

O’Neill found that a voter who has lived in California for six years could still vote from her mother’s home in Lambertville because that’s where she considers home.  He found that her participation in the Greater Lambertville Chamber of Commerce Turkey Trot was evidence that she maintained close ties to the community.

Cunningham determined that Gieger wasn’t eligible to vote in New Jersey this year.

“She spends what really doesn’t even amount to a third of her days per year in Harvey Cedars,” Cunningham said.  “A preponderance of the evidence that Miss Geiger’s domicile is actually in Boston, Massachusetts.

The decision may not have any impact on the outcome of the election, unless Oldham continues to challenge individual voters in court.  Cunningham was called on to break a tie on the Ocean County Board of Elections, which split 2-2 on whether Gieger could vote.

Three candidates filed for three seats, and Joseph F. Gieger finished third with 171 votes,  behind incumbents John Imperiale (198) and Paul Rice (188).  It’s still not clear how many votes Oldham received, but the Ocean County Clerk is reporting 170 write-in votes cast.