Mayor, Councilman File Voting Rights Law Suit

Update 3:20 p.m.—this article has been updated with Mayor Dawn Zimmer's comments. 

Mayor Dawn Zimmer, together with Councilman David Mello, has filed a law suit to divide the Fourth Ward—the southwestern part of town where she also lives—into more voting districts. 

Zimmer is asking Hudson County to reduce the size of district 4-2. The district has about 2,500 registered voters, one of the largest districts in town. 

On Wednesday night, Mello said that long lines during peak hours on election days are the reason for the law suit. 

Residents Keith Furman and his wife Sandra Reinardy are also named as plaintiffs on the law suit, according to the complaint. 

"I've experienced it first hand," said Mello, who is also a resident of the Fourth Ward. Mello added that he would like to see the district divided into two or even three districts as well as a polling place in the Sky Club. 

Currently, voting for the district takes place at the Hoboken Housing Authority complex at 221 Jackson St. 

Zimmer, in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon, said the timing of the law suit "is very tight." Re-districting has to occur at least 75 days before the June primary, which means the change will have to be implemented—and the law suit completed—by March.

Districts are required to be subdivided if more than 750 people cast votes in consecutive years. "This is the one district where numbers are way over," Zimmer said. Zimmer said that all districts should be around 750 people. While other districts in town are also more than that, 4-2 is the only district where the state is required to make a change because of turn out in previous years. 

Redistricting for the rest of the city can wait until after the presidential election, Zimmer said. 

The other districts in the Fourth Ward—the ward is made up of four districts—have between 1,200 and 1,500 registered voters. "They're all quite large," Zimmer said. 

Mostly, Mello continued, the move is supposed to help voter apathy and encourage more people to vote.  

"Not only are 4-2 residents crammed into an election district more than 3 times larger than normal, they do not even have a polling place within their district," Zimmer said in a press release on Wednesday night. 

During the 2008 presidential election 1,400 residents in 4-2 cast their votes, Zimmer said. The mayor and Mello said they hope the new districts will be in place before the 2012 presidential election. Both Mello and Zimmer are up for re-electoin in November 2013.