Court to determine candidate eligibility for primary
The residency of 20 contested candidates running in the election for committee seats in the Middlesex Democratic Party with Democrats for Change remains up in the air after yesterday's hearing at the Middlesex County Courthouse.
Middlesex County Superior Court Judge James P. Hurley will issue a ruling today at 9:30 a.m., determining whether the candidates will be put on the ballot for the June 2 primary.
Patricia Bombelyn, counsel for Democrats for Change, said according to the Statute 19-53 of the State Code, the definition of resident used by the defendants only applies to elected government offices, not party committee seats. She argued that disqualification of candidates would hinder the democratic process in most wards.
"The disqualification of the candidates would lead to no choice of candidate," Bombelyn said.
Students shuffle around residencies but declare their domicile when they register to vote, she said.
"They should be able to participate in government," Bombelyn said.
Eric Aronowitz, counsel to County Clerk Elaine Flynn, explained the defendant's position, arguing that Statute 40A:9-1.13's requirement for one year residency of a ward, district or subdivision in order to run for an office regularly filled in an election disqualified the contested candidates. Aronowitz cited nominating petitions from across the state that refer to the statute.
Hurley asked if the references were enforced by state law.
"Nobody seems to know who put the language there," Aronowitz said.
Students chose their residency status when registering to vote, and in order to be a candidate, one has to be a voting resident of the jurisdiction they are running in, said Leonard Bier, counsel to New Brunswick Democratic Chairman T. K. Shamy.
Deputy Attorney General for the Board of Elections Thu Lam agreed with the plaintiff, stating that Statute 40A:9-1.13 applied to officers of municipalities and counties but not the political offices defined in Statute 19.
Hurley said the case comes down to issues of interpretation and his decision will be based on the facts of the case.
"It's good to have young blood in politics," Hurley said. "God bless them, that's great."
Shamy filed the motion to disqualify 20 candidates. The objections dealt primarily with disputed claims of residency.
Though the contested candidates are all University students or alumni, there was never any design or desire to disqualify them, Shamy said.
He said he used voter registration history as the criteria for disqualifying the students. Aside from two students who were registered at dorms, he did not know the candidates were students.
"I never knew that they were college students," Shamy said.
He estimates that 8 to 10 students running for committee seats in New Brunswick with the Middlesex County Democratic Organization will be on the ticket this year.
Shamy spoke of the importance of the residency requirement, noting that candidates should have a vested interest in their community.
"A person has to be in touch with his or her neighborhood," Shamy said.
Contested Democrats for Change candidate and University alumnus Shawn Monahan said he is anxious to hear the upcoming decision and became involved in the campaign because he felt there was a lack of choice in party elections in the city.
"It's not enough to have the right to vote — the point of democracy is having a choice," Monahan said.
