August 31, 2009
By CHRISTINA TATU
FRANKFORD -- The battle about who should be responsible for handling the petitions and preparing the ballots for the Dec. 8 special election to recall Mayor Paul Sutphen has halted preparations for the election.
Frankford Township Attorney Kevin Benbrook said he plans to file paperwork this week asking a judge to rule that the county clerk and county Board of Elections assemble the ballots for the special election and also count signatures on petitions for those hoping to fill the vacancy if Sutphen is recalled.
Township officials say Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley should be responsible for the task and county officials say Township Clerk Patricia Bussow is responsible.
In the meantime, petitions submitted last week by Sutphen and Sam Castimore to appear on the special election ballot are sitting untouched at the municipal office.
Sutphen said committee members Robert McDowell and Bill Hahn authorized Benbrook to file the proper paperwork at the regular Township Committee meeting Thursday. Sutphen recused himself from voting on the issue.
Benbrook said he plans to file the requisite documents in Sussex County court, but the case may go before Judge B. Theodore Bozonelis, in Morristown, since the issue involves county personnel.
State election law does not specify when the ballots must be finalized for a special election, said David Wald, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, but a special election would follow the same standards the law sets forth for a general election, he said.
According to those deadlines, the finalized ballots must go to the printer no later than Oct. 26 -- 43 days before the Dec. 8 election, Wald said.
Gormley said she would send the ballots to the printer after the municipal clerk prepares them.
"In my opinion, and the opinion of the county counsel, my role is to mail out the absentee ballots and the sample ballots, but I don't prepare them. The (township) clerk does that and when they are done doing that, they deliver them to me and I mail them out," Gormley said. "I'd be more than happy to help with this whole thing if it was approved for me by the county counsel."
Bussow was unavailable for comment Monday.
Sutphen said each petition, the same used for independent candidates hoping to get on an election ballot, states the petition should be accepted by the county clerk.
"I think the (Frankford) clerk is keeping (the petitions) in safe keeping and they will be handled by the party the judge feels is responsible for the election," Sutphen said.
"I'm happy that this will probably get resolved by a judge, which gives it more credibility and that's fine with me," Castimore said. "At times, the law is crystal clear and other times it's a bit confusing. The people are always safer if we have the blessing of a judge."
