A Superior Court judge will have to determine whether to permit the City of Newark to fill the vacant Central Ward city council seat in April.
LaMonica McIver resigned to take her place in Congress in September, leaving the seat empty. After it was too late for voters to fill the seat in the general election last year, she left.
According to state law, nonpartisan municipal vacancies must be filled at the following general election; according to the city’s counsel, Scott Salmon, the school board election on April 15 is a nonpartisan citywide contest. As long as the city covered any additional expenses, the Newark Board of Education, which funds school elections, had no issues.
However, there is a flaw in the plan: Election authorities are unsure of how to separate the school board elections from the city council contest, which requires all voters to be at least eighteen, while Newark approved letting sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to vote in school board elections.
Craig Keiser, the deputy attorney general, is against the election-sharing idea, arguing that it would cause confusion with the voters on the school board who are minors.
He asserted that the public has a right to a smoothly conducted election free from logistical challenges and voter confusion.
Robert Gardner, the judge, has a limited amount of time to make a decision. According to the state’s election legislation, vote-by-mail ballots must be sent out 45 days prior to the election, which was held on January 31, and nominating petitions must be submitted 75 days beforehand.
The Central Ward seat will be empty until a candidate is chosen in November if the erratic Gardner, a former executive director of the Essex County Republican organization, declines to call an election in April.
