Dispute over mailed ballots in a New Jersey county delays outcome of congressional primary

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.

The circumstances that led to the envelopes being unsealed early are in dispute. Democratic officials have described what happened as a mistake, while Republican officials say there are indications it might have been done intentionally to speed up ballot counting.

The political and legal wrangling over fewer than 2,000 ballots, while a local dispute, also signals how carefully both parties are paying attention to the voting process this year and how local election offices are under intense scrutiny. Similar problems surfacing during the November general election, especially if they occur in swing states where the presidential election is likely to be close, are almost certain to draw the attention of national campaigns and parties.

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