Chatham Candidate Files For Recount Over 25 Ballot Difference

CHATHAM, NJ — With a 25 ballot margin between them, Katherine “Kathy” Abbott, the Democratic candidate for the Chatham Township Committee seat, has requested a recount in the General Election versus her Republican contender Mark Lois.

“After consulting with experts, I’ve made the difficult choice of filing a recount,” was a statement from Abbott in a news release from the Kathy Abbott for Chatham Township Committee campaign, sent to Patch on Monday.

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“This election is significant for the Township because if the results stand, there will be a substantial change of course in Township governance,” the news release from Abbott’s campaign indicated, stating the “change rests on 0.65 percent of the vote.

The Morris County Clerk’s Office’s official results on Monday, show Lois with 2,243 votes, or 50.28 percent, with Abbott holding 2,218 or 49.72 percent of 4,461 votes cast.

In the" Verified Petition in Support of Recount and Recheck" to the court filed by Attorney Scott D. Salmon of the firm Jardim, Meisner & Susser, P.C. of Florham Park on Abbott’s behalf on Monday with Morris County Superior Court’s Law Division, it directs the Morris County Clerk and Morris County Board of Elections to recount and recheck the results.

“Petitioner [Abbott] has reason to believe and does believe, that errors were made in the counting of the votes from each district within the Township of Chatham, its tabulation by each District Board and by the Morris County Board of Elections and/or Board of Canvassers, and in declaring the results of the subject election,” the petition read.

“Upon information and belief such errors resulted in an error in the overall tabulation resulting in Mr. Lois being declared the winner of the election,” petition continued.

Kathy Abbott is now legally stating that my victory is an error,” Lois wrote in a statement to Patch. “She took an anything-to-win approach prior to Election Day, observing no boundaries in her insatiable fourth campaign for this volunteer position.”

“Her present lawsuit is a consistent extension of this familiar, disappointing pattern,” Lois added.

Abbott’s news release elaborated that many campaigns perform a recount with “this or any differential that is less than one percent,” with the differential “near the mandatory recount threshold of 0.5 percent in many states.”

The statement from Abbott’s campaign compared the ballot machine readings to a Scantron test, stating there could be misreadings, “particularly provisional or vote-by-mail ballots that are completed by hand,” expressing that though rare, “when the race is this close, it’s worth it to double check.”

Abbott, who said there could be a “realistic chance the results may change with greater ballot scrutiny,” said she has been told the recount and verification typically takes approximately four hours.

Chatham Township Democratic Committee Chair Philip Ankel, who called Abbott an “outstanding public servant in our community for over 20 years," commented on the news release while results were still unofficial on Monday, that “all Township voters deserve the clarity and certainty that a recount will bring to race where the deciding margin is currently less than 30 votes out of 4,451 cast.”

“Kathy Abbott has filed a lawsuit against the Morris County Clerk and Morris County Board of Elections in an attempt to overturn her loss,” was a statement to Patch from the Municipal Republican Committee of Chatham Township. “She states an unidentified error was made and demands that the taxpayers fund the cost of recounting and reviewing the election. This is added evidence of not only poor judgement but also a total disregard for Township taxpayers."

The petition asks the court to order the recount, which if done will have the Morris County Clerk and Morris County Board of Elections work together on it. It also entitles Abbott access to review materials before and after the recount that she may scan or copy, such as mail-in ballot applications, rejected or mail-in ballots that arrived late, envelope flaps, outer envelopes, messenger book, order lists, challenge lists, complaint or inquiry records and more.

It additionally asks that the court waives Abbott’s “$25 per district fee for the hand recount of the mail-in ballots” and “any and all just and equitable relief” that the court sees fit.

The petition orders the County Clerk’s Office and Board of Elections to preserve all items requested in the petition for the recount, until it has been certified.

Abbott suggested on Nov. 10 the possibility of a recount, when the election results were not yet official and Lois held 2,239 votes to her 2,206, with Lois maintaining the lead since Election Night.

The recount adds another layer to what has already been an eventful election season in Chatham Township.

In April, then-Chatham Township Mayor Tracy Ness announced she would not run again and endorsed Abbott, due to "growing personal and professional commitments."

Ness resigned in June to move out of Chatham Township, with Abbott one of three candidates the Democratic Party recommended to fill Ness' seat, after Abbott was elected in the Democratic primary during an uncontested race.

After the Republican Township Committee members Mark Hamilton and Ashley Felice - both attorneys - cited case law among their reasons that a Township Committee replacement shouldn't be picked in executive session at the June 24 meeting, a special meeting was held in early July.

Following a stalemate at the special meeting, with Hamilton and Felice picking Democratic candidate Paul Payton and then-Deputy Mayor Stacey Ewald and Committee Member Celeste Fondaco picking Abbott, the Democratic Committee chose Abbott, who was sworn in on July 13, with her ceremonial swearing in on July 15, where she was also chosen, 3-2, as Deputy Mayor.

Lois was picked by the Chatham Township Republican Committee to succeed Daniel Bevere, the Republican nominee in June's uncontested primary, with Bevere the municipal chairman of the Republican Committee, who said he was stepping out of November's race himself because of professional obligations.

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