Chatham Candidate’s Recount Petition ‘Perverts The Legal System’

CHATHAM, NJ — In another layer of an already eventful election season in Chatham Township, a legal motion attempting to toss out a recount petition in the Chatham Township Committee race was filed on Tuesday night.

Attorney Gregory Lois of Lois LLC, who filed the petition on behalf of Republican candidate Mark Lois, called the petition filed for Democratic candidate Katherine "Kathy" Abbott an "abuse of process."

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The petition was filed the same day official results from the Morris County Clerk’s Office showed a 25 ballot margin in Lois’ favor. The motion also asks the court to deny the fee waivers Abbott requested for the recount fees and that she pay all legal fees and costs associated with the recount petition.

“The plaintiff's submission perverted the legal system, created excessive litigation, caused question on the legitimacy of the free and fair election in Chatham Township without any basis and therefore should be liable for any and all fees associated with this action,” the motion read.

It described Abbott’s petition as a “malicious abuse of process,” with Abbott creating “a boogeyman from mere belief alone.”

“The chaos that the plaintiff encouraged in her submission to the court leads a reasonable reader to conclude that the motive is improper and should not be tolerated,” it added.

The motion hearing is scheduled this coming Friday morning with Morris County Superior Court’s Law Division, requesting oral argument between the parties.

In the petition that attorney Scott D. Salmon of the firm Jardim, Meisner & Susser, P.C. of Florham Park filed on Abbott's behalf, 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," the recount petition continued.

The petition also asks the court to waive 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.

In a statement to Patch on Wednesday, Lois wrote that Abbott “raised more than $25,000 for her campaign and “could have at least paid the required fees for a recount, instead of putting it off onto the taxpayer.”

“Accept responsibility and don’t ask the court to waive normal requirements,” Lois said.

Abbott referred Patch back to comments on Wednesday afternoon that she made about the recount in a news release, "After consulting with experts, I've made the difficult choice of filing a recount," she had said.

"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.

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.

The motion on Lois’ behalf recounts the race history up until this past Monday, with Lois maintaining the lead since the Nov. 2 Election Night and Abbott suggesting 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.

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.

“As the defendant [Lois] won fairly with 50.28 percent of the vote for the Township of Chatham Committee, the Plaintiff has a borderline frivolous action,” the motion reads.

The motion states that Abbott failed to provide the “standard of evidentiary support,” with just an “implication that the margin of victory appeared subjectively slim,” something Lois’ attorney says warrants dismissal in itself.

The motions points back to a court case over a 1991 race in the Township of Maplewood for a Committee seat, where it calls for a “preponderance of the evidence” for someone in Abbott’s position needed to “establish his or her proofs;” and that Abbott - who bears the burden to prove her case - “has not preferred it” and hasn’t stated a claim.

In Abbott’s petition, Lois additionally wasn’t named as a legal party, the motion stating intervention is needed on his behalf, with his interests not properly represented.

“Despite naming him [Lois] twice in the complaint,” the motion reads, the petition wholly omits “him from the cause of action in its entirety."

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