Attorney Expected to Weigh in on Filing Challenge

The township Clerk's Office will seek the opinion of the township attorney today for guidance on handling an objection that questions the validity of a Republican candidate's petition to run for the GOP nomination for Township Committee.

Township Clerk Joyce Santimauro has said that her office has not dealt with such a situation in the past and will therefore seek the input of Attorney Robert Landel, who's expected back today after being out of town since the objection was filed on Friday.

Should the objection be judged as valid, potential candidate Jeffrey Boucher's petition could conceivably be thrown out, essentially giving the party's line to Mayor Rudy Boonstra, who's running for his second term aboard the governing body. Whomever comes out of the Republican field will challenge Democrat Dr. Henry Velez for a three-year seat.

Boucher, pastor at Powerhouse Christian Church, learned Friday that resident Jeremiah Larkin, a signatory to Boonstra's petitions, filed an objection that lists several potential problems with the pastor's petitions, filed the preceding Monday. Boucher, who is assessing his legal options, has said the objection is a bid to simply remove him from the ballot; Boonstra has said the objection was necessary since the filing had several errors, and that he is simply following the process articulated by statute.

Larkin's letter, addressed to Santimauro, reads verbatim as follows: 

Dear Ms. Santimauro,

I am a resident and taxpayer of the Township of Wyckoff. I am registered Republican voter in the Township and a member of the Wyckoff Bergen County Republican Committee and a signatory to the petitions filed by Rudy Boonstra.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:13-10, please accept this letter as a formal objection to the validity of the petitions for nomination filed by Jeffrey (Jeff) Boucher for the position of Township Committee.

I believe the subject petitions for nominations are invalid based on the following deficiencies:

• Persons who are either unregistered to vote, or are members of political parties other than the Republican Party signed the petitions under N.J.S.A. 19:23-5 and 7.
• The verification signed by John Haboob is invalid under N.J.S.A. 19:23-11. Specifically, there were multiple petitions circulated for Mr. Boucher. This is demonstrated not only by witnesses in the municipality, but is evidenced by the different handwriting and manner in which the Candidates name, the Municipality, and Office sought were filled out (or not filled out) for each such petition. N.J.S.A. 19:23-11 requires that for each petition circulated, one of its signers execute a verification under the statute. Thus, a separate verification would have to have been executed and notarized for each such petition filed.
• Because it is apparent that separate petitions were circulated (although it is unknown how many), the law requires that each petition contain the requirements of N.J.S.A. 19:23-7. Here, there is only one Certificate of Acceptance, Oath of Allegiance, and Circulator's Verification, even though there were multiple petitions circulated. While Mr. Haboob may be permitted to execute the verification for the petition he circulated, he certainly cannot do so for the others because the law requires that such a verification be executed by "one of the signers" of the petition.
• More over, Mr. Haboob is unqualified to sign Mr. Boucher's petition in any event. Mr. Haboob is registered to vote in the Borough of Oakland. He is not registered to vote in the Township of Wyckoff, NJ.
• Because Mr. Haboob did not circulate the other petitions, he cannot verify any of the information contained in the petitions, including that the signatories are members of the Republican Party or that they are qualified voters, or that they intend to affiliate with the Party. N.J.S.A. 19:23-7.
• There are at least three signatures that do not match the voter's signature on file at the Office of the Superintendent of Elections. (See: Roger Forman, 415 Old Post Road, Brian Raymond, 313 Voorhis Avenue and John Giovatto, 465 Fairfield Road).
• One of the petitions bearing 20 signatures does not identify either the Municipality or the Office being sought by the person being nominated. This is another violation of N.J.S.A. 19:23-7.
• There appears to be an improper Notary endorsement.

As a result of the defects, the petitions filed by Jeffrey Boucher should be invalidated because they do not contain the requisite number of signatures under N.J.S.A. 19:23-8. Thank you.

Very truly yours,

Jeremiah Larkin