Judge orders new recount in Paterson council race

Judge Ernest Caposella has ordered a second recount in the race for Paterson’s 2nd Ward city council seat, where incumbent Shahin Khalique leads Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman by just one vote, 1,727 to 1,726.

There are at least six votes that are still unaccounted for after a recount that produced four different results last week.

The recount is expected on Friday, although that date could change.

In this race, 50 people who cast mail-in votes in the May 12 election had their ballots rejected because the Passaic County Board of Elections didn’t have their signatures in the database.

The 2nd Ward race is one of three council seats facing legal challenges.

State and federal law enforcement are investigating the Paterson election after nearly 900 ballots appear to have been harvested and mailed from three separate mailboxes in the all vote-by-mail election.