Mendham and Rend ‘Em
MENDHAM TOWNSHIP – Politics in this affluent town is getting personal.
So much so that Republicans are charging that the daughter of Amalia Duarte, the Morris County Democratic chair, voted illegally in the recent municipal election. Talk about politics hitting home.
This once very Republican town has become competitive of late and the ongoing dispute proves it – and then some. The dispute also, it would seem, threatens to politically polarize a township known more for its upscale lifestyle than brass knuckle election fights.
Two seats on the township committee were up last month and Republican Tracey Moreen was top vote getter.
As for the other seat, Republican Tom Baio was ahead on election night, but when all votes were counted, he trailed Democrat Lauren Spirig by two votes. A recount last week added one vote to Spirig’s total, making for a victory margin of three.
This cuts the GOP’s advantage on the committee next year from 4-1 to 3-2 with the other Democrat being Duarte, who is both county party chair and a township committee member.
But even before the recount, Morris County Republicans were suggesting that something was rotten in Mendham Township.
They followed up soon after the recount was finalized by the county Board of Elections
A press release Wednesday night spoke of an official filing contesting the election. One argument is that a provisional ballot from a Republican was inexplicably not counted. OK, but that’s only one vote.
Here is the GOP’s main point:
“The (Republican) committee has also identified a large and growing number of Vote-By-Mail ballots filed by Democrat voters who do not appear to meet the residency requirement for voting in Mendham Township. One of those voters is Morris County Democratic Chair and Mendham Township Committeewoman Amalia Duarte’s adult daughter who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. ”
According to the Observer-Tribune, a local weekly, Baio said there were 29 votes cast illegally by Democrats. That’s certainly enough to upend the election, but will this claim hold up?
The issue here appears to be young people who grew up in the township, but are now living elsewhere. Maybe they’re travelling. Maybe they are away at college. Maybe, they got a new job.
But whatever the reason for their absence, they voted “back home” in Mendham Township, presumably via a mail-in ballot.
Duarte in a statement of her own said Baio was “creating divisiveness” and “attacking the voting rights of young people.”
Regarding how young people voted on Nov.8, she had this to say:
“We fully support their rights to vote in local elections. Whether they live fulltime in Mendham Township or elsewhere at the moment for school or other reasons, these young people are a product of their community and consider Mendham their hometown. They played in local leagues. They marched in the July 4th Parade. They are graduates of the local public or private schools.”
Still, it’s unknown how a judge would decide this case – if we get that far.
Duarte said judicial review is unwarranted.
She called on Baio to “immediately concede” the race to Spirig and for good measure, alleged that Republicans are dividing the town and trying to “pit neighbor against neighbor.”
Not so, contends Laura Ali, the Morris GOP chair, who says this is about integrity. In her statement, Ali said Baio asked Duarte to work with him to reform the election system statewide, but she refused.
Ali added:
“Without integrity in our elections, we face turning our country into a banana republic and the Morris County Republican Organization will not let that happen.”
Pathetic attempt to overturn the election results. And republicans wonder why young voters are rejecting their party in droves? Maybe it’s because when young people do vote, they are dragged through the mud by angry, bitter, partisans desperately trying to throw out legal votes in an immoral quest of voter suppression.
Any reasonsable person should be disgusted by this. What if it was your child they were trying to disenfranchise?
Excerpt: “do not appear to meet the residency requirement for voting in Mendham Township.” Does anyone know what that means?
It is also my understanding that college kids vote at home. RE: this comment above….According to the Observer-Tribune, a local weekly, “Baio said there were 29 votes cast illegally by Democrats. That’s certainly enough to upend the election, but will this claim hold up?
“The issue here appears to be young people who grew up in the township, but are now living elsewhere. Maybe they’re travelling. Maybe they are away at college. Maybe, they got a new job.
But whatever the reason for their absence, they voted “back home” in Mendham Township, presumably via a mail-in ballot.” ( AS college kids do)
So let’s look at a few facts. Her daughter is 25 (turns 26 in March) years old and graduated from college in 2020. Since March 2021, she’s been employed in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I’m guessing she probably has a Tennessee drivers license by now because you have to transfer your drivers license after you’ve been a resident of Tennessee for 30 days. When you do that, you turn in your out-of-state drivers license.
It’s been a long time since she’s a resident of Mendham; but by the logic presented in this article if you grew up in a town you should be able to vote there forever. Give me a break!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-messina-6533b8137
Let’s get a few facts straight.
Her daughter is 25 (turns 26 in March) years old and graduated from college in 2020. Since March 2021, she’s been employed in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I’m guessing she probably has a Tennessee drivers license by now because you have to transfer your drivers license after you’ve been a resident of Tennessee for 30 days. When you do that, you turn in your out-of-state drivers license.
She is living in an apartment complex in the Knoxville area. Her Facebook is up-to-date with her current place of residence as Knoxville Tennessee. To be a registered voter in Mendham, you must’ve lived there starting at least 30 days before the election.
It’s been a long time since she was a resident of Mendham.
It gets crazier: in the Observer Tribune Baio admits that his own daughter — who lives in New York — voted by mail for the democratic candidate in the Mendham election. And Baio mailed her the mail in ballot.
If the voter got a new job as article says & does not live at that mendham address any longer & lives in Tennessee for more than a year
That is illegal & dems have no morals which quire obvious
They will cheat lie & steal They will have their day when things flip against their cheating ways
The “child“ in question graduated from college two years ago. She’s been working in Oak Ridge Tennessee and living in an apartment in Knoxville.
I am guessing she was not a resident of Mendham 30 days prior to the election; which is New Jersey statute to be a registered voter and vote in elections
The “child“ in question graduated from college two years ago. She’s been working in Oak Ridge Tennessee and living in an apartment in Knoxville.
I am guessing she was not a resident of Mendham 30 days prior to the election; which is New Jersey statute to be a registered voter and vote in elections
Matt is full of it, too. Presumably the same out of state college student quoted everywhere. What college student is “home” for “six months” of the year? If you’re going to be disingenuous about simple facts, nothing you say after that bears listening to.