September 16, 2009
By CHRISTINA TATU
FRANKFORD -- A judge will decide next month who is responsible for administering and conducting the special recall election of Frankford Mayor Paul Sutphen. Meanwhile, county officials, stating the election process must move forward, have begun the process of preparing the ballot for the Dec. 8 special election.
Preparations for the special election stalled last month when township officials said Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley and the County Board of Elections are responsible for conducting the special Dec. 8 recall election and county officials said the township is responsible.
Superior Court Judge B. Theodore Bozonelis will hear the case on Oct. 6 at the Sussex County Courthouse.
To meet Tuesday's deadline to hold the ballot draw -- which determines where names will be placed on the ballot -- Gormley, at the advice of county attorney Dennis McConnell, picked up the petitions. "We have to provide justice to these candidates and have this election move forward in an orderly manner," said Gormley.
"Erma Gormley and I had a discussion yesterday," McConnell said, "and made a decision not to disenfranchise the voters and make sure the process goes forward."
Township attorney Kevin Benbrook earlier this month asked a judge to rule that the county be responsible for the election. Benbrook did not return phone messages left Tuesday.
Sutphen and Sam Castimore submitted petitions last month to appear on the special election ballot, but those petitions were sitting untouched in the municipal office while county and township officials disagreed on who should be responsible for handling them.
Gormley said she is not required to verify the signatures on the petitions unless they are challenged.
For the ballot draw, candidates' names are written on slips of paper that are put inside capsules, which are then placed in a special box. Whichever name is pulled out first is the one that will appear first on the ballot.
According to officials from the State Attorney General's Office, a special election would follow the same standards the law sets forth for a general election. Under those guidelines, the finalized ballots must go to the printer no later than Oct. 26 -- 43 days before the Dec. 8 election.
The ballot draw must be held 85 days before the election, Gormley said.
