The Trenton Times published the following article on June 14, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Mercer County freeholders express concerns about special October elections

By Brendan McGrath/The Times of Trenton 
on June 14, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated June 14, 2013 at 7:01 AM

TRENTON — The all-Democratic Mercer County Board of Freeholders said last night they are concerned about the impact of the special October election on local voters and budgets.

Their objections coincided with an Appellate Court ruling yesterday that the October election can be held as scheduled.

“Without question, the Governor was authorized to call a special election in this circumstance,” state Superior Court Judge Jane Grall wrote.

The Mercer freeholders yesterday expressed support for an effort by state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence) to move the general election from November to October to coincide with the special election to fill the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s seat.

Absentee ballots, sample ballots and whether the election machines can be reused so quickly were all raised as potential issues for the county. Some of the freeholders said that they are worried that voter confusion will result from short period of time — just 20 days — between the two elections.

“The chance for confusion for this election has increased dramatically,” Freeholder Andrew Koontz said.

Last night, Freeholder Pasquale “Pat” Colavita said that he spoke with Turner about the special election earlier this week.

“I told her we were grappling with the concerns,” Colavita said.

Freeholder Lucylle Walter said that absentee ballots for the November election may arrive just around the time of the October election. “You may see absentee ballots crossing,” Walter said.

The other issue the board has raised multiple times this week has to do with the impounding of election machines. State election law calls for the machines to be locked for 15 days after an election in case a recount or any other investigation is required to verify results.

Putting two elections so close together leaves a small gap of time to reprogram the machines or to deal with a contested election, the freeholders said.

In a resolution last night, the board said the county will “incur overtime costs scrambling to prepare for two additional elections.”

“From a pragmatic point of view, it doesn’t make sense to have elections so close,” Koontz said.

The freeholders said that they will receive funding for the extra election from the state, but they said they are unsure what form it will take.

“I’ll take the governor’s word that he’ll pay for it,” Koontz said.

Earlier this week, County Administrator Andrew Mair expressed doubt that the state money will cover the county’s cost.

“I’m not sure how much confidence any of us have that this will really happen,” Mair said.

The board also passed a bond ordinance last night authorizing the completion of projects at the Trenton-Mercer Airport. This includes $3 million for a parking facility, plus more for improvements to taxiways and roads, and the construction of a baggage facility.

Contact Brendan McGrath at (609)989-5731 or at bmcgrath@njtimes.com.