A Superior Court judge today rejected a bid by two Harrison independent candidates to gain access to the November general election ballot, ruling they failed to collect the required number of signatures and missed the statutory deadline to challenge the Hudson County Clerk’s decision.
David Katz, the Hudson County assignment judge, dismissed lawsuits filed by mayoral candidate Dominick Ritorto and First Ward council candidate Michael Verile, upholding the clerk’s determination that their nominating petitions were insufficient.
Ritorto needed 161 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, while Verile needed 31. Ritorto submitted 90 signatures, and Verile’s petition was left with 13 valid signatures after the county clerk rejected 20 signatures that appeared on photocopied petition pages duplicated from Ritorto’s filing. Katz found that the duplicate pages were “clearly and convincingly” photocopies, based on identical markings, and noted that Verile had acknowledged the duplication during an earlier court proceeding.
The plaintiffs argued they relied on incorrect information about the signature requirements that ultimately traced back to communications involving the Hudson County Clerk’s Office. They urged Katz to apply equitable principles and New Jersey’s tradition of broadly construing election laws to maximize voter choice, particularly because Harrison Mayor James Fife and First Ward Councilman Jesus Huaranga otherwise would run unopposed.
Katz rejected those arguments on multiple grounds.
First, he ruled that the lawsuits were untimely. The candidates filed their petitions on June 18, although the statutory deadline to seek judicial review expired on June 15. While acknowledging New Jersey courts have discretion to relax election deadlines in appropriate cases, Katz said the plaintiffs offered no explanation for why they missed the filing deadline.
“I don’t know why they missed the deadline,” Katz stated. “There’s nothing to evaluate other than the objective fact that they missed the deadline.”
Katz also found the candidates could not reasonably rely on information published by a private blog. He noted that the blog was not Harrison’s official publication, contained no indication that it conveyed official guidance from the municipality, and that Ritorto testified he also conducted his own research. Candidates, Katz said, bear the responsibility of determining the correct legal requirements before filing for office.
Michael Collins, the attorney representing Ritorto and Verile, said after the ruling that his clients are considering an appeal.