New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on Monday contended in a court filing that the Camden County Democratic Committee Inc. and state Sen. James Beach "seek to rewrite the rules of the election" in June that unseated the traditional Cherry Hill Democrats from the local political committee and elected a maverick group of Democrats.
Platkin's staff filed a "friend of the court" motion, asking for permission from Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel to present the attorney general's legal assertions in the case.
Judge Kassel on Friday is scheduled to hear arguments from the traditional Democrats — led over the years by Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III — to enjoin the South Jersey Progressive Democrats from taking over the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee.
The South Jersey Progressive Democrats listed three candidates. The Camden County Democratic Committee listed names for all 74 positions, including elected officials and members of Township boards. Note the only ovals are for either group and not individual candidates, as it is elsewhere on the ballot.
Registered Democrats in the June primary election voted 5,547-to-3,350 in favor of the Progressive Democrats over the traditional Democrats to represent them on the 74-member local committee. The Progressives listed three names on the ballot and the Norcross Democrats listed 74.
The issue now is whether the three Progressives — Susan Druckenbrod, Rena Margulis and David Stahl — have the right to fill the 71 vacancies with their choice of candidates or, as the Norcross Democrats assert, the vacancies must be filled by 71 of the 74 people listed under the losing Camden County Democratic Committee Inc. on the ballot.
"This case involves a post-election attempt to disrupt the straightforward application" of state law, the attorney general's office stated in its "amicus curiae" motion. "New Jersey's election statutes establish clear rules of the road to ensure that voter preferences are translated into representational outcomes — to ensure, in other words, that voters are in fact represented by the officials they chose at the ballot box."Â
The attorney general's motion stated: "This court should reject plaintiffs' (Norcross Democrats) attempt to upend the straightforward application of state law. The text of New Jersey's election laws is clear: Vacancies on municipal party committees must be filled by the 'remaining members' of the municipal party committee."
Doing otherwise, according to Platkin's motion, threatens to tear at the fabric of civic engagement.
Altering the rules "carries the same risks of severely undermining voters' confidence in the electoral process, discouraging civic participation, confusing voters, and depriving voters of their right to select representatives of their choice," according to Platkin's motion.
"In light of the clear statutory requirements that have long governed how municipal committees fill vacancies, this court should not entertain plaintiffs' request to retroactively alter the rules of the road for an election that has already taken place," according to the attorney general's filing.
Camden County's official election results showing the 5,547-to-3,350 win by the Progressive Democrats.
Those who sit on the Cherry Hill committee of Democrats have a profound impact on elections and government in the township, where Democrats historically have overwhelmingly won local elections. The committee selects candidates to appear on the ballot's Democratic line, nominates residents to fill elected office vacancies and has 74 votes on the 522-member Camden County Democratic Committee, which has the same function for county-wide candidates.
Later Monday afternoon, lawyer William M. Tambussi, representing the Norcross Democrats, filed a brief with the court underscoring his contention that the Progressive Democrats may fill only three seats on the Cherry Hill Committee — the three names on the ballot.
"Cloaking themselves in self-righteousness, the Progressives repeat ad nauseum that the three of them were 'overwhelmingly elected,' but somehow forget that they are only three individuals. They were elected. They have been seated. The law entitles them to nothing more," Tambussi contended in the brief on Monday.
"The law certainly does not entitle them to any right to lay claim to the 71 remaining seats on the Cherry Hill Democratic Committee at the expense of the 3,255 [sic] voters that already determined the pool of candidates from whom those vacant seats must be filled," according to the Tambussi filing.
