October 7, 2009
By CHRISTINA TATU
FRANKFORD — The majority of preparations for the Dec. 8 special election to recall Mayor Paul Sutphen is the responsibility of the municipal clerk, but county officials must assist in the election, a judge ruled Tuesday.
“It is clear in recall election law that the recall election official is the person who has the dominant role. The municipal clerk is the recall election official and must be authorized by law to accept the nominating petitions,” said Superior Court Judge B. Theodore Bozonelis. “But, there is no question that the county clerk and the County Board of Elections must also play a role in this election.”
Preparations for the special election stalled last month when township officials said Sussex County Clerk Erma Gormley and the County Board of Elections were responsible for conducting the special recall election and county officials said the township was responsible.
Sutphen and Sam Castimore submitted petitions last month to appear on the special election ballot, but those petitions sat untouched in the municipal office while county and township officials disagreed on who was responsible for handling them.
Bozonelis admitted the state statutes on recall elections are confusing.
The statute states a special election may follow the guidelines for either a primary or general election, but in a primary election the municipal clerk takes on most of the responsibility for preparing the ballots. During a general election, which involves multiple municipalities, the county clerk is responsible.
Bozonelis ruled township and county officials should follow the guidelines established for a primary election.
“I think you have to go back to the role of the recall official,” Bozonelis said. “If the municipal clerk is the recall election official, which they must be, they should set up the ballot and bear that expense because they are going to be responsible for that anyway.”
According to County Clerk Erma Gormley, during a primary election, the municipal clerk accepts the petitions, assembles the ballot, sends the information to the voting machine company and proofs the final audio and written ballots.
County officials are responsible for assembling the vote-by-mail applications, Gormley said. The Sussex County Board of Elections will assign temporary staff to man the voting machines during the election, said board administrator Marge McCabe.
Frankford clerk Patricia Bussow declined comment Tuesday because she had yet to see Bozonelis’ decision, but said she plans to meet with Gormley Thursday to review the process.
Frankford Township Attorney Kevin Benbrook said he was pleased with the decision.
“Our concern was that we were being left out to run the election without any assistance from the county,” he said.
Last month, Bussow accepted the petitions and Gormley, at the advice of county attorney Dennis McConnell, performed the ballot draw, which determines where names will be placed on the ballot. But since then, no further action has been taken. The next deadline is for the municipal clerk to advertise for the mail-in ballots, which must run in the newspaper Oct. 14 and 18, Gormley said.
“The statute was not clear and Frankford’s attorney was telling (Bussow) that she had no further responsibility and we felt differently,” Gormley said. “I think it was a good decision. It certainly clarifies legislation that is not written well.”
