Read Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 5/21
Akhtaruzzaman Digging in for Investigation, Legal Challenge into Ward 2 Results
In that Second Ward scrap in Paterson, just as in the Third Ward, challenger Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman won’t concede until he is convinced of the exhaustion of a full bore investigation into what happened in the May 12th election.
Right now, eight votes separate him from the winner, incumbent Second Ward Councilman Shahin Khalique.
But “Fraud was afoot,” Akhtaruzzaman told InsiderNJ. “We want to know what happened. They have to investigate.”
Sources in the Board of Elections office say the FBI is in the city scouring those mysterious bound ballots discarded from the cfinal count issued Tuesday noght. But Akhtarruzzaman – like Third Ward Councilman Bill McKoy – isn’t satisfied.
The two are likely to join legal forces for the long haul.
“A lot of people told me, ‘Mohammed, I was going to vote for you but my ballot never came,” said the candidate.
Signs Point to Disastrous July 7th Primary Elections
Early indications are for the July 7th primary election to be a mess, mostly based on people’s lack of understanding of emergency procedures, which enable machine voting for disabled voters only who demonstrate certification that they are unable to vote by paper.
Everyone else is paper in person – if they show up to a polling station – and vote-by-mail.
The entire process is still heavily tilted to encourage VBM.
But voters are confused, and think they are voting on machines at the polls.
In a post on the League of Women Voters of New Jersey’s Facebook page, commenter Joseph Atanasio wrote, “You really need to let people know that in person voting will be by ‘Provisional [Paper] Only and that voting machines will only be available to voters who cannot vote by provisional ballot because of a disability….See Below….. Section 10. Any voter who appears at a polling place on the day off the July primary shall vote via a provisional ballot, except that a voter with disabilities may vote on an ADA-accessible voting machine.”
Source: McKoy Heading for a Recount
Third Ward Councilman Bill McKoy is said to be heading toward a recount for the reasons aforementioned in an earlier Insider iLine post. He will employ the services of attorney Scottt Salmon.
McKoy Not Ready to Declare Defeat in Paterson’s Third Ward
As of this morning, Paterson Third Ward Councilman Bill McKoy was not ready to concede as he and his team dive into the spread sheets.
It’s their understanding that the Board of Elections threw out over 1,100 of the 4,500 votes cast in the Third Ward.
They originally tought the BOE had tossed 350 votes, so at the moment, they are confused about the results and want to see an exact breakout before they make any formal declaration of defeat or continuing challenge.
In Paterson, Where have All the Veterans Gone?
In 2007, the Paterson City Council contained a squad of formidable veterans, including Ken Morris, Jr., Vera Ames-Garnes, Tom Rooney, Jeff Jones, Aslon Goow, and Bill McKoy.
Of that group – and granted Rooney was from a different era even then and set to retire – only Jones would go on to be mayor (a single termer). By 2020, only McKoy remained on the governing body.
Last night, he went down, suffering a defeat to former At-Large Councilman Alex Mendez. It was not an insignificant moment. His loss means that now eight of nine councilmembers – 89% – have been in office six years or less – or 36 years combined experience, an average of four years each. Councilwoman Ruby Cotton has the most experience at this point, with eight years under her belt. That’s how many years McKoy had served in 2008, but again, he had the reinforcement of those aforementioned veteran colleagues.
Referring to last night and McKoy’s loss in particular, “Ultimately, the city has moved on from that generation of leadership,” said one city source.
Read Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 5/20
Camden’s Cappelli Responds To Bellmawr Gym Defiance of Executive Order
Camden County Freeholder Director Cappelli reacted to the Bellmawr gym that has reopened in defiance of the Governor’s executive order, saying ‘in short, there is a right way and wrong way to do things and the actions that have transpired at the gym are clearly the wrong way. We are seeing significant destruction being wrought by the virus and as a society we cannot give it the opportunity to regain a foothold in Camden County.’ Read the full statement here.
Gottheimer Endorsed by Human Rights Campaign as a “Champion of Equality”
Gottheimer Endorsed by Human Rights Campaign as a “Champion of Equality”
Paramus, NJ – Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced today that he has received the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign for his strong pro-equality leadership in Congress. Representing more than 3 million members and supporters, HRC is the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the country.
“In 2018, HRC stood with many of these pro-equality leaders to build a pro-equality majority in the U.S. House and pass the Equality Act. Within months of taking office, they did just that,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Now HRC and these champions for equality must work together to ensure we maintain a pro-equality majority in the U.S. House and establish one in the U.S. Senate. Mitch McConnell’s refusal to allow consideration of the Equality Act leaves LGBTQ people across America at risk of being fired from jobs, refused essential services like health care, and more vulnerable to violence. HRC will work to mobilize 57 million Equality Voters nationwide to turn out this November and ensure these endorsed candidates win because lives are on the line.”
“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign,” said Gottheimer. “I’m proud to stand side by side with HRC to combat bullying, discrimination, and inequality. As I have throughout my time in Congress, we must continue to fight together for equality, acceptance, and respect for the entire LGBTQ community — here in New Jersey and across our country.”
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Suleiman Uges UPS to Ensure on-Time delivery of Primary VBMs
Today, Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman sent a letter to the USPS Distribution Center in Bellmawr, which services Atlantic County, to urge that issues that arose during the May 12 municipal election in Atlantic City are remedied before the upcoming primary election.
“As someone who has voted by mail for the past ten years, it is important that Atlantic County voters, many of whom will be voting by mail for the first time this year, have the same confidence in mail-in voting as I do,” said Chairman Suleiman. “In light of reports that residents in Atlantic City received their ballots far later than they should have, I am urging USPS to expeditiously deliver mail-in ballots in the primary and that completed ballots are returned to the Board of Elections as quickly as possible.”
