The mayoral campaign of Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon has filed a verified petition in Hudson County Superior Court to ensure Ward B council candidate Lorena Loayza’s name is spelled correctly on the ballot after a mistake was identified.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We’re filing this complaint because the ballot must be completely accurate. Any inaccuracy can throw off voters. Lorena deserves to have her name spelled correctly,” Team Solomon campaign manager Stuart Thomas said in a statement.
“In addition, the Clerk of Elections Junior Maldonado has endorsed Bill O’Dea and O’Dea’s Ward B candidate Joel Brooks. To avoid the appearance of impropriety, we expect Clerk Maldonado to follow the law and implement all the required legal steps to rectify this unacceptable error. We expect to be successful in court.”
Maldonado did not return inquiries seeking comment on Friday.
The complaint states that while her name is correctly spelled on some ballots (like sample ballots and mail-in ballots), it’s misspelled as “Lorenza Loayza” on the machines where people cast their votes in Spanish.
She argues that this mistake could confuse voters and potentially impact her chances of winning the election, as voters might not recognize her name or be unsure who they are voting for.
“Petitioner’s campaign manager spoke to the Hudson County Clerk as soon as Petitioner
found out about this error. The Clerk indicated that it was only affecting the Spanish-language machines and would continue to have the wrong name through early voting and even on Election Day itself,” her attorney in the matter, Scott Salmon, wrote in the filing.
“The Clerk indicated that had the issue been raised at the start of early voting, he would have fixed it, but at this point, he was not willing to do so. Notably, the Clerk never made these ballots available to the public prior to voting and even today, his website fails to show the Spanish-language ballots actually being cast by voters on machines.”
Ideally, he states that his client wants to see this fixed by either reprinting the ballots or reprogramming the voting machines.
Salmon also wrote that in the event that the ballots cannot be fixed prior to Tuesday’s municipal elections, they should send a notice to all potentially affected voters, as well as posting their notice on the county clerk’s website, citing a situation in Edgewater Park.
Brooks is favored in the Ward B council race, though there in seven candidates in total and in the event no one secures 50 percent plus one vote on November 4th, the race will head to a December 2nd runoff when the top two finishers face off one-on-one.
“Our campaign fully supports any and all necessary measures to correct this issue and ensure that voters are given the correct information, regardless of the cost,” O’Dea said on today.
Hudson County Superior Court Assignment Judge David Katz ruled late this afternoon that any vote cast for “Lorenza Loayza” will count towards the Ward B candidates final vote tallies, with all Ward B residents receiving a postcard acknowledging the error.
An online notification will also be provided on the county clerk’s website, while large notices will be erected at all Ward B polling sites. All notices will be provided in both English and Spanish.
“We are thrilled with the decision and after winning in court we look forward to winning on Tuesday. Thank you to Judge David Katz, Hudson County Clerk Junior Maldonado and our legal team for remedying this matter in an expedient fashion,” Thomas added this evening.
Editor’s note: This story was update with a comment from Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), a Jersey City mayoral candidate, and then later with the court’s decision.