Noticias

Superior Court Judge John Deitch moved up his hearing on the Hillside election matter to 3 PM today after two New Jersey Globe stories noted that his sluggish schedule has put an entire local campaign on hold and threatened to delay Hillside voters from receiving vote-by-mail ballots with the rest of Union County.

This is the second time Deitch has rescheduled the hearing since it was filed last week; he initially set it for October 3, and then earlier this morning, to September 15.

The challenge to the rejection of Hillside council candidate Sonya McBurrows’ nominating petitions was filed on September 2.   Her attorney, Jason Sena, maintains that Township Clerk Rayna Harris never notified McBurrows that her petitions had been challenged.

McBurrow is one of eight candidates for three at-large council seats in the November 4 non-partisan election in Hillside.  She is running on a slate with Mayor Dahlia Vertreese.

In the meantime, McBurrow’s campaign is in a suspended state of sorts and she is quickly losing time.

Vote-by-Mail ballots are being printed now and are scheduled to be sent out on September 20.

Judiciary spokesman Pete McAleer has not responded to questions about scheduling issues. That inquiry is more than  nearly 24 hours old.

Deitch is the judge who denied a recount in a June 10 Democratic primary for Roselle Borough Council that was decided by three votes.  A state appellate court panel reversed his decision, and the margin was slimmed to two votes after an August 4 recount; Deitch didn’t hold a hearing on a lawsuit challenging the election until September 3, and still hasn’t ruled.

Hillside holds non-partisan municipal elections in November.  The filing deadline was August 21, and the deadline to determine a petition challenge was August 30, the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Editor’s note: McAleer reached out with comment.  “Your article says we have not responded to questions for more than 24 hours. That is false. You first reached out at 3:36 on a Sunday.”   McAleer also noted that “I’ve called you twice now to try to discuss your questions and you have not returned my call.”  He did so at 2:02 PM and 2:05 PM.  The New Jersey Globe will respond shortly.   We apologize to McAleer for any inconvenience this may have caused him.  

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