A Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that a Mount Holly fire commissioner candidate may remain on the November ballot despite failing to provide a campaign email address on his original nominating petition.
Judge John Harrington found that Tom Rossell’s omission was a technical, curable defect rather than a substantive failure that invalidated his petition from the outset.
Rossell, who is seeking to unseat Fire Commissioner Rosemarie Logue, wrote “N/A” in the space on his petition requesting a campaign email address. State law says nominating petitions “shall” contain one, and Rossell did not supply an address during the three-day period candidates are given to correct technical defects.
But Harrington interpreted the requirement as directory rather than mandatory, citing New Jersey’s longstanding policy of construing election laws liberally to promote ballot access and give voters a choice.
“The word ‘shall’ here means ‘may,’ and it’s directory in nature, not mandatory,” Harrington said.
The judge said election statutes should not be used to invalidate nominations for technical reasons when candidates have otherwise satisfied the essential requirements for getting on the ballot.
“Liberal is in the sense of construing it to allow the greater scope of public participation in the electoral process, to allow candidates to get on the ballot, to allow parties to put their candidates on the ballot, most importantly, to allow the voters a choice on Election Day,” Harrington said.
Harrington said mandatory requirements include filing a written petition, securing the requisite number of valid signatures, and being a registered voter. A missing email address did not rise to the same level, he found.
“The failure to submit an answer to a part of the petition is not the same as failing to provide the petition,” he said.
The lawsuit was filed by Jim Logue, whose wife, Rosemarie, is the incumbent Rossell is challenging. Logue argued that allowing Rossell to add an email address after the cure period had expired would effectively erase the statutory deadline.
Rossell is backed by suspended Mount Holly Fire Director Jason Carty, who was charged this week with petition fraud in an unrelated matter. Carty’s attorney, former Plainfield Mayor Mark Fury, also represented Rossell. While Carty disputed that he is supporting Rossell in a text message, the New Jersey Globe is standing by its original account.
Harrington additionally rejected Logue’s claim that Burlington County Clerk Joanne Schwartz’s office waited too long to decide his petition challenge.
Deputy County Clerk Philip Warren notified Logue at 7 p.m. on August 5 that Rossell had supplied an email address and would remain on the ballot. State election guidance listed a 4 p.m. deadline, but the governing statute required a decision only on the ninth day after petitions were due and did not set a specific hour.
“I didn’t read that in the statute,” Harrington said. “It doesn’t say ninth day at any particular time.”
The judge found that the state guidance was not binding because it had not been adopted through the formal rulemaking process.
Rossell must now file a certification stating that the address he supplied is his campaign email address. Once that is done, Harrington said, the defect will be cured, and Rossell’s candidacy will remain valid.