Judge sets January trial to determine winner of tied Oakland race

A race for a seat on the Oakland Borough Council that ended in a tie after a recount could be decided on January 12, when Superior Court Judge Kelly Conlon has scheduled a trial to review challenges to three vote-by-mail ballots.

After a December 10 recount, Republican Councilman Kevin Slasinki and independent Matthew Dumpert each have 2,515 votes.

William Eilert, also an independent, defeated the other GOP incumbent, John McCann, Jr., 2,546 to 2,469.

Dumpert’s lawyer, Scott Salmon, is challenging the rejection of three vote-by-mail ballots by the Bergen County Board of Elections that were all cast for Dumpert:

* One where a “sticky note” was attached to the ballot’s instructions stating the ballot arrived torn.  “This ballot also had yellow highlighter over the word ‘torn’ on the ballot’s instructions,” Salmon said.

* A second where a vote for McCann was crossed out, which the voter initialed.  “This ballot shows the voter clearly filled in the bubbles for Matthew Dumpert and William Eilert,” stated Salmon.

* A third VBM showed “crossed out votes for Kevin Slasinski and John McCann, Jr. This ballot shows the voter clearly filled in the bubbles for Matthew Dumpert and William Eilert.”

Conlon ordered discovery to be completed by December 31.