Abbott Withdraws Recount Petition In Chatham Twp. Committee Race

CHATHAM, NJ - An eventful election season draws to a close in Chatham Township as one candidate who asked for a recount has now withdrawn her petition.

Katherine “Kathy” Abbott, who ran for Township Committee as a Democratic candidate and currently sits in the Deputy Mayor seat through Dec. 31 in an unexpired term, said in a statement to Patch on Monday night that she’s decided to withdraw her recount petition. Abbott filed it on Nov. 15 - the day Morris County Board of Elections certified the results - with a 25 vote margin in favor of her opponent, Republican Mark Lois.

Subscribe to Patch for local news updates to your inbox. (It's free) https://patch.com/subscribe

According to a Stipulation of Dismissal that was filed on Abbott’s behalf by her attorney Scott D. Salmon of the firm Jardim, Meisner & Susser P.C. on Monday, Abbott “voluntarily dismisses” the request for a recount “with prejudice,” meaning she would not pursue the matter again.

RELATED: Chatham Candidate Files For Recount Over 25 Ballot Difference

“In light of the more refined voting data we received today, my campaign has withdrawn its recount petition,” Abbott said in a statement that she emailed to Patch on Monday night. “As you know, I received 49.72 percent of the Chatham Township Committee votes, or 2,218 out of 4,461 votes, with a margin of only 25 votes.”

She said she filed the recount petition “on the basis of this slim margin of .56 percent and the presence of many hand-written Vote by Mail and provisional ballots.” Additionally, Abbott said Morris County Board of Elections told her campaign that there were “only 19 under/overvotes from hand-written vote by mail or provisional ballots (out of a total of 131), and the rest were from ballots cast on machines.”

“Our campaign team then decided to stop its efforts at a recount,” she said.

In her statement to Patch, she congratulated Lois on his election to the Chatham Township Committee, stating that while she was disappointed with the election outcome, she vowed to remain active for her love of the township. She also thanked residents who voted for her.

“I wish him [Lois] success in listening well to all perspectives and always looking out for what is best for his neighbors in all of Chatham Township,” she said.

“This is a win for taxpayers and voters in Chatham Township,” Lois said in a statement to Patch on Monday. “I acknowledge Kathy Abbott for her full knowledge of the actual facts, dropping her lawsuit to recount and overturn the election results.”

Neither Lois - who maintained a lead since Election Day - nor his attorney Gregory Lois of Lois LLC - were included in the agreement filed by Salmon, in which Abbott, the Morris County Clerk’s Office and Morris County’s Board of Elections -represented by New Jersey’s Attorney General’s Office - agreed to pay their own legal costs and fees, plus not “seek contribution or reimbursement from any party.”

Gregory Lois intervened on Mark Lois’ behalf with a legal motion to dismiss Abbott’s petition on Nov. 16, referring to her filing as a “malicious abuse of process,” which failed to provide “the standard of evidentiary support” with just an implication that the margin of victory appeared subjectively slim,” something Gregory Lois said warranted dismissal in itself.

He also said it was improper that Mark Lois wasn’t named as a legal party, the motion stating intervention was needed on his behalf, although Lois was mentioned twice in the petition, which Gregory Lois claimed omitted Mark Lois “from the cause of the action in its entirety.”

RELATED: Chatham Candidate's Recount Petition 'Perverts The Legal System'

In addition Lois' lawyer, the Attorney General’s Office opposed Abbott’s petition, according to a letter sent to Judge Frank J. Angelis in Morris County’s Superior Court on Nov. 17, citing that the petition "fails to set forth the required statutory showing of error for granting the recount,” also suggesting that the court should not waive recount fees that Abbott had requested.

Deputy Attorney General Craig S. Keiser referred to those fees as “statutorily required recount fees,” which were $25 per district.

Keyser additionally stated that Abbott “failed to present sufficient, competent, credible evidence showing there is a reason to believe an error was made in the tabulation of the votes, thus, Petitioner’s [Abbott’s] application for a recount is improper and should be denied.”

The attorney for Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi - Kirstin Bohn from Chasan, Lamparello, Mallon & Cappuzzo - also weighed in, in a letter to Judge Stuart A Minkowitz on Nov. 15, that Grossi’s office didn’t object to the request for recount, but had concerns that Abbott cited “no legal authority in support of her request,” that the court waive the “statutorily-required deposit for each district” of which Abbott asked for a recount.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.