Bound Brook, Somerset Hills candidates ask for recounts in races decided by one vote
Two Somerset County candidates in last month's elections have gone to Superior Court to ask for recounts in their races.
Mark Speed, a Republican candidate for Bound Brook Borough Council, is requesting a recount in the race for two seats.
The results certified by the Somerset County Clerk's Office has Speed losing by one vote to Democrat Shawn Guerra, 698-697.
The other Council seat was won by Republican Glen Rossi with 723 votes. Fourth in the race was incumbent Democrat Abel Gomez with 686 votes.
Kathleen Tober, of Bernardsville, is asking for a recount in the race for two Bernardsville seats on the Somerset Hills Board of Education.
Tober, an incumbent, trails by one vote in the results certified by the Somerset County Clerk's Office.
Tober trails Felicia Ballard, 991-990.
Samantha Frenda was the top vote-getter in the five-way race for the two seats with 994 votes. Holly Clark-Emery had 845 votes and Luca Pizzale had 195 votes.
More: Turnout for the 2023 election in NJ was small. Voting by mail helped Democrats
Speed and Tober, both represented by Somerset County Republican Chairman Timothy Howes, an election law attorney, allege "there are sufficient reasons to believe that an error has been so made in counting and declaring the vote." Speed, an attorney, is also acting as co-counsel in his case.
Both are asking for a hand recount of all paper ballots in the election. Those include vote-by-mail, provisional and emergency ballots.
The candidates are also asking the court's approval for permission to examine all records associated with the election.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Shanahan has scheduled a hearing in Speed's case for 3 p.m. Dec. 15.
Tober's case has been transferred to Morris County Superior Court because her husband, Peter Tober, is a Somerset County Superior Court judge.
In response to the lawsuits, the Somerset County Clerk's Office, through its attorney, Deputy Attorney General Paulina R. DeAraujo, opposes the requests, saying they do not "allege basic facts to meet the standard for a recount," including "any facts demonstrating any alleged error in the tabulation of the ballots."
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bound Brook, Somerset Hills NJ candidates ask for election recounts
