Atlantic County judge settles dozens of disputed ballots

In a series of hearings on Thursday and Friday, a Superior Court judge settled disputes on more than 100 ballots that had caused a deadlock within the Atlantic County Board of Elections.

The disputes in question were layered and convoluted.

For some 40 provisional ballots, the board, split between two Republicans and two Democrats, had deadlocked on whether to accept the signatures, which would usually lead to a Superior Court judge breaking the tie. However, staffers for the board had apparently violated protocol when they sent “cure letters” to voters, allowing them to address the issues; cure letters, however, are only supposed to be sent after ballots have been rejected, and the deadlocked board had not technically rejected the ballots.

Superior Court Judge M. Susan Sheppard, who offered further instructions and examples on signature analysis, sent the ballots back to the board on Thursday evening, instructing them to try again. The board reached unanimous decisions on most of the ballots on their second try, only deadlocking on a final pair of mail-in ballots belonging to an elderly couple in Galloway. The couple had mistakenly placed their ballot into the return envelope designated for their partner, and one of them had failed to write the address on the return envelope.



https://newjerseyglobe.com/judiciary/atlantic-county-judge-settles-dozens-of-disputed-ballots/