UPDATE: County Clerk Responds to Thornton, Sheppard Ballot ‘Victory’ Claim

COURT HOUSE — Incumbent Freeholder Gerald Thornton and running mate Sue Sheppard, city council president in Ocean City, won a “huge battle and a critical victory” Thursday, May 6, having their names moved on ballots for the upcoming June 8 primary election.
Thornton and Sheppard, opposed their tentative placement on the June 8 ballot. Unofficial ballot proofs had listed the independent Republicans on the second column – underneath Donna Ward and Linda Biamonte, two congressional candidates running against incumbent Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd.
Campaign spokesman Mike Donohue said, cramming Thornton-Sheppard into column two had the potential to accomplish two things for Freeholder candidates Ralph Bakley and John McCann. First, it would have made it very difficult for Thornton-Sheppard to advertise their position on the ballot.
Donohue said Thornton-Sheppard are not affiliated with the two congressional candidates on Column two and would not be able to simply ask the voters to “Vote column 2” because of all the other candidates in that column.
Second, according to Donohue they have concrete evidence that Bakley-McCann, had already begun delivering this line “Thornton and Sheppard are running in a line with the Tea Party candidate that wants to oust Frank LoBiondo.”
Donohue said their suit was “intended to make the Clerk obey the law so that this voter confusion could be avoided and the opposition would not be allowed to perpetuate the lie that Thornton-Sheppard were slated up with others in an effort to knock off LoBiondo.”
“This huge battle and a critical victory will prevent County Republican Chairman David Von Savage from being in a position to run radio, print and television ads accusing Thornton and Sheppard of trying to oust LoBiondo”, Donohue said.
Additionally Thornton and Sheppard would have been lost in column two with not one, but two congressional primary candidates above them. Extreme voter confusion and a difficult voter education challenge with regard to ballot placement would have ensued. Donohue explained.
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The following is County Clerk Rita Fulginiti’s response to the above:
In an article posted May 6 to the online version of the Cape May County Herald Freeholder Gerald Thornton and his running mate claimed they won a “huge battle and a critical victory” against the County Clerk’s Office earlier that day in Superior Court. They infer that my staff and I improperly created ballots for the upcoming Primary Election because the running mates appeared in a column where two candidates for federal office also appear. They are wrong.
In the County Clerk’s Office we routinely carry out our election duties while complying with a myriad of laws and deadlines with regard to creating and delivering ballots to voters. We prepare and deliver sample and Mail-In ballots to voters in their homes in addition to the machine, provisional and emergency ballots we prepare for use in the polling places. This coming June 8 Primary will be our fourth election of five this year.
It was very late in the process when their complaint was filed on May 5 (CPM L-304-10). The deadline for filing with Superior Court was nine days earlier on April 26 (NJSA 19:13-12), the same date by which I was required to have all the ballot information to the printer for preparing 128 unique Republican ballots and 128 unique Democratic Ballots (NJSA 19:14-1). In this Primary Election, as happens every two years, there are two positions for members of county committee in every one of the 128 election districts for both major parties. By the time the complaint was filed the Mail-In ballots were printed and more than 1000 of them were in voters hands or in route to overseas and military voters. On May 6 at a brief management conference with the judge the plaintiffs asked for significantly less than in their filed complaint; simply that they be placed on the sample and machine ballots in a new third column to the right and, with consent, a limited number of county committee candidates could move with them. There was no request to make any change to the other ballot types.
By the date of the management conference the sample and machine ballots were currently in the proof stage but had not yet been printed. Their limited request was possible and so as to avoid further delay I agreed. A consent order was entered into the record and the matter disposed. I’m glad the running mates are pleased with our agreement but it was neither a ”huge battle” or a “critical victory” for them.
In the final outcome the two complainant freeholder candidates with 18 county committee candidates will occupy the newly created third column; 9 candidates will remain in Republican Column 2 and 255 bracketed candidates of the Cape May County Regular Republican Organization remain unmoved from Republican Column 1. . The complainants appear alone in the third column in most of the county; 116 out of 128 districts.
I am confident that the ballot my staff and I designed was appropriate, reasonable, and easiest to navigate for the voter. However, realistically, given the tight deadlines that apply to the conduct of elections, even a marginal challenge to the process can be expensive in terms of time and money. Delays in producing ballots translate to delays in mailing ballots, and that was unacceptable to me. Hearing the limited relief sought in argument before Judge Batten, it was clear to me that agreeing to their unusual request would allow me to get ballots completed without any further delay or cost. My staff and I continue to do our jobs correctly, efficiently and within the time constraints upon us.
Rita Marie Fulginiti, Cape May County Clerk