Whether to count more than 1,900 mail ballots cast in one New Jersey county will be up to a judge after their envelopes were unsealed prematurely and members of the local election board deadlocked on how to proceed.
Superior Court Judge Michael J. Blee will hear arguments Friday in Atlantic City. The decision could affect the outcome of the Democratic primary in the race for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, where businessman Joe Salerno holds a 400-vote lead over attorney Tim Alexander in unofficial results.
At the center of the dispute is a state law that allows local election officials to open mail ballots five days before an election day. In Atlantic County this year, the envelopes containing the 1,909 ballots were unsealed about a month before Tuesday’s primary, but the ballots themselves were not removed at that time, said Creed Pogue, a Democrat appointed to the county Board of Elections.