Hudson County Clerk E. Junior Maldonado is the first in New Jersey to withdraw his appeal of the county organizational line case, where U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi eliminated them for all partisan races in 2024.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Commisioner [sic] Odea and I spoke to the Hudson County Clerk this AM – Junior Maldonado,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor, posted on X this morning.
“The clerk informed counsel that Hudson will not be participating in the appeal – it’s a good and important step – Junior said he will allocate the money towards voter education instead of legal fees for an appeal. I hope other counties follow[.]”
Maldonado, who is in his second term which doesn’t expire until the end of 2027, did not immediately return calls or a text message on Saturday.
Fulop and O’Dea were among the several Hudson County electeds who applauded Quraishi’s decision to grant emergency injunctive relief in the case spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3), whose lawyers argued that New Jersey’s specific ballot formation, the only state in the country that uses it, is unconstitutional.
By Friday evening, 17 county clerks throughout the state (19 out of 21 counties embrace the line format), including Maldonado, had filed a notice of appeal and he is the first one to think better of it.
A motion to say has also been filed by the defendants, with Kim’s attorneys asked to respond by Monday at noon, court filings show.
“Happy to see Hudson County make this decision. I had planned to sponsor a resolution for next #Hoboken Council Mtg to urge no appeal. Thank you @countyclerkhc for doing what is right for Hudson County voters. Thank you to @StevenFulop and @BillOdeaJC for your advocacy as well,” Hoboken Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour wrote on X.
“Proud to see @CraigGuyHC & @countyclerkhc taking the lead and hopefully Hudson County being the 1st of all counties to withdraw their appeal. I spoke w/Craig this morning & he agrees about the importance of this moment. Appreciate @StevenFulop ‘s efforts to galvanize this effort,” noted Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher.
Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Anthony Vainieri was critical of the decision to get rid of the line this year, saying that voter education and redesigning the ballots takes time, also noting that ballots have to be mailed out by April 20th.
