The Paulsboro election kerfuffle is over, and Superior Court Judge Benjamin Telsey has avoided solving a problem that threatened to cause massive technical issues for the June primary election in Gloucester County.
That means Councilman Eric Singleton is back on the ballot after his rival, Councilman Tahje Thomas, chose to withdraw his already-successful lawsuit after realizing the hornet’s nest that came out of Telsey’s ruling, and the high cost that would be incurred by Paulsboro taxpayers.
“Mr. Thomas had heard the report of the clerk’s office about the undertaking that this would involve. We had hoped that we could correct everything on an ongoing basis and let whatever had already been out stand and treat those as write-in votes,” said his attorney, Michael DiPiero. “That is not possible based on the way the system is set up.”
DiPiero said Thomas “was concerned about the cost of doing this, whether it be the borough paying for it or whether or not he had to pay a portion of it.”
“His concern was also that this was great confusion for voters in Paulsboro. He didn’t want to do that,” he stated. “My client is ready and willing to run his primary campaign, and he wants to get going. He’s hoping to put this behind him.”
The challenge and the expense could have backfired on Thomas in a small-town election.
Telsey said he would grant the request to dismiss, as if the challenge never occurred.
“Not that I even believe I’m subject to granting it or denying it, but I will allow that to occur,” Telsey stated.
Thomas went to court to invalidate enough signatures to get Singleton tossed from the ballot.
But by the time Telsey finished his process – which took a month – hundreds of vote-by-mail ballots had already gone out, and about five dozen had been returned.
Singleton, who lost party support for re-election to a second term, will now face Thomas and his running mate, Michelle Baylor, in the primary on June 2.
No Republicans have filed to run in Paulsboro, a Democratic stronghold in Gloucester County.