ICYMI: Gloucester County GOP Suing To Get A Bipartisan Board of Elections

Gloucester County GOP Chair Jacci Vigilante

I’m still catching up from my 10-day working road trip.

One big item I missed while I was away is that Gloucester County GOP Chair Jacci Vigilante, along with Gloucester County Board of Elections Commissioners Carmen DiNovi and George Shivery and Gloucester county Commissioner candidate Chris Konawel filed court papers on August 18 demanding a bipartisan county Board of Elections.

According to the New Jersey Globe a bipartisan Board of Elections is required by state law:

Gloucester County Republicans have filed a lawsuit alleging that the county is denying them a bipartisan county Board of Elections required by state law.

At issue is that for many years, Gloucester County had a shared service agreement between the Board of Elections, the County Clerk's Office and the Superintendent of Elections. This agreement expired in December 2020 and was extended through June 30, 2021. The two Republican Commissioners, DiNovi and Shivery, on the Board of Elections refused to vote to extend the agreement.

The issue with the shared services agreement is that it allowed County government to avoid the hiring of staff dedicated to the Board of Elections. Other counties, Camden County Board of Elections for example, hire an equal number of Democrat and Republican employees, making the Board of Elections truly bipartisan. In other words, Gloucester County Republicans are not seeking anything out of the ordinary.

The problem with the old shared services agreement in Gloucester County is that the agreement allowed the highly partisan County Clerk’s office and Superintendent of Elections to decide who works at the Board of Elections, meaning nearly every single person who handled voted ballots was a Democrat.

The problem with a highly partisan Superintendent of Elections office is that the state legislature clearly intended the office to be bipartisan. In counties of the Second Class, as Gloucester is, Title 19 states:

NJSA 19:32-26.1 Office of deputy superintendent of elections, certain; appointment; term; vacancies; salary

1. The governing body of a county of the second class in which the office of superintendent of elections for the county has been established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1947, c.167 (C.19:32-26) may establish, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, the office of deputy superintendent of elections. The office of deputy superintendent of elections in each such county shall be filled by a suitable person who shall be nominated by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall not be from the same political party as the superintendent of elections, and who shall hold office for a term of five years, running concurrently with the term of the superintendent and until the deputy superintendent's successor is appointed and has qualified. The initial appointment to the office of deputy superintendent of elections may be for a partial term, as appropriate. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment but shall be for the unexpired term only. The annual salary of a deputy superintendent of elections shall be 90% of the salary received by the superintendent of elections of the same county for performing the duties of superintendent of elections and commissioner of registration. The office of the deputy superintendent of elections shall be located in the county making the appointment.

“Who shall not be from the same part as the superintendent of elections,” is an important phrase.

Perhaps the reason why Gloucester County has never moved to appoint a deputy superintendent of elections is the Democrats simply do not want bipartisanship in an office that has anything to do with counting ballots or the way elections are run in the county.

Who knows? Last year’s Gloucester County Freeholder/Commissioner election was as close as 0.37%, maybe it would have been different if the Gloucester County Board of Elections were a truly bipartisan office.

Here’s hoping this lawsuit brings bipartisanship to Gloucester County’s Board of Elections.

PRESS RELEASE: Gloucester County Republican Freeholder Candidates Say it’s Time To Smartly Reopen

DeSilvio, Shivery, Konawel

Gloucester County GOP freeholder candidates Gibbstown Mayor George W. Shivery, Jr., entrepreneur/business owner Chris Konawel and Franklin Twp. Board of Education member Nick DeSilvio want New Jersey to reopen. Following is their press release on the matter:

Gloucester County Republican freeholder candidates George W. Shivery, Jr., Chris Konawel and Nick DeSilvio said today it is time to “let commonsense prevail and smartly get the state reopened.”

“While we acknowledge there has been some progress made toward reopening, far too many folks are still out of work, still having issues with unemployment and struggling to pay their bills, as a state we have to do better.” George W. Shivery, Jr. said, “We can open more businesses. For example, barber shops and beauty salons could safely reopen while following social distancing guidelines by moving chairs further apart and wearing masks. These businesses are licensed and sanitary, sitting in a barber’s chair you can see equipment, combs, scissors and such, soaking in disinfectant.”

Chris Konawel added, “The state shouldn’t be picking winners and losers. Deciding what businesses are essential and non-essential hasn’t appeared to be a scientific exercise. Our mom-and-pop shops are suffering and many are not set-up to provide curbside pickup, many seniors who frequent these shops aren’t prepared to find their websites, place an order online and then go pick up the order. Our neighbors in Salem County were right to pass a bipartisan resolution calling on Governor Murphy to reopen businesses and return to normalcy.”

“Part of returning to normalcy means putting an end to deciding which businesses are essential and non-essential. I assure you, a non-essential business is essential to the employees of that business,” Nick DeSilvio said. “It makes no sense that one can take their dog for a haircut but can’t take their child for one. We, as a state, should be looking at what works elsewhere and what doesn’t. There is no partisan way to reopen our state. The fearmongering has to stop and we must let commonsense prevail and smartly get the state reopened.”

PRESS RELEASE: Gloucester County Republicans Announce Endorsements

Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante announced today that the Gloucester County GOP has awarded the line to Rik Mehta for U.S. Senate, Congressman Jeff Van Drew in the Second Congressional District and Claire Gustafson in the First Congressional District. The organization’s press release on the matter follows:

Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante announced today the organization has endorsed Rik Mehta for U.S. Senate, Congressman Jeff Van Drew in the Second Congressional District and Claire Gustafson in the First Congressional District.

“In the US Senate race, after a thorough screening process through a Screening Committee, whose recommendations were made to the Executive Committee, Rik Mehta was awarded the Party line,” Jacci Vigilante said. “The thoroughness of our screening process ensured the Executive Committee that Rik Mehta is a conservative Republican with a keen grasp of the issues who is ready to take the fight to Cory Booker.”

Vigilante continued, “Also earning the party’s endorsement for the Second Congressional District is incumbent Congressman Jeff Van Drew. The Congressman is an excellent addition to our GOP family who cares deeply for our country and is a tireless advocate for South Jersey. Gloucester County GOP is proud to join President Trump in endorsing Congressman Van Drew.

“In the First Congressional District Claire Gustafson has earned the party’s endorsement. Claire has a history of stepping up for the Camden County GOP, is a former member of the School Board in Collingswood, is the Collingswood Republican chair and most recently resurrected Camden County’s Republican women organization. She’s got the experience and the ability to build the organization necessary to mount a competitive campaign against Donald Norcross.”

Vigilante added, “Both, Congressman Van Drew and Claire Gustafson care about our county and respect our process, so much so that while no other candidates for Congress in either district asked to be screened they both appeared before the Screening Committee because they wanted to earn our endorsement and not simply be given the line.”

“President Trump won Gloucester County in 2016 and Bob Hugin won Gloucester County in 2018, I believe in 2020 these candidates, along with our team of Freeholder candidates, Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery, entrepreneur Chris Konawel and Franklin Township School Board member Nick DeSilvio will keep voters in the column all the way down to the municipal level and Gloucester County Republicans will enjoy electoral success in 2020,” Vigilante said.