No. Bruns. election challenge likely

Shamy claims 17 votes in recount bid

By jennifer kohlhepp

Staff Writer

Three weeks after the North Brunswick Democratic primary, George Shamy is still not willing to admit defeat.

"The more investigation I do, the more likely it is that I will challenge [the election]," Shamy said.

Shamy, a team of his supporters, including campaign manager and township Councilman Adam Weiss, and Shamy’s attorney, Thomas Abode, were still reviewing poll books and authorization-to-vote slips at the Middlesex County Board of Elections Office on Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick Wednesday.

State Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone, sitting in New Brunswick, ruled June 16 to allow Shamy a recount of the June 3 primary votes. The machine recount at the Middlesex County warehouse at Roosevelt Park in Edison on June 19 tallied the same results as the count certified by the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office June 9. That count showed Reform Democrat Francis "Mac" Womack beat Shamy for the Democratic mayoral candidacy by 24 votes.

Womack, who was not at all concerned about the recount, said, "Not once, but twice, we’ve been certified by the Board of Elections as the winners of the election."

In the recount, Womack received 1,490 votes to Shamy’s 1,466 votes, including all absentee and provisional ballots, according to the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office.

To ensure an accurate recount, Shamy said his team will work through the weekend checking signatures, verifying if the vote count matched voter authorization, and making sure the voters had the appropriate party affiliation to vote.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Shamy said he had found at least 17 votes that could be problematic.

"We know of seven Republicans that were given Democratic authorization to vote," Shamy said. "A couple of Democrats were blocked from voting because they were mistakenly given Republican authorization to vote."

Shamy said he also found nine absentee ballots and one provisional vote that he would challenge.

Womack said he has not sent anyone to the Board of Elections to check votes.

"Up to now, it’s been a one-sided look at the books," he said. "I’m sure if we had our own team looking through the records, we would find at least as many votes favoring us."

Womack said that in order to have the election set aside, Shamy would have to prove widespread fraud or incompetence.

"That is a very heavy burden to sustain, as it should be in our democracy," he said.

Shamy said he has until Monday to challenge the election.

"If George does decide to challenge the election, we will respond," Womack said. "Not because we want to win, but on behalf of the election in North Brunswick and elections everywhere."