TOMS RIVER, NJ – Questions are being raised about the legitimacy of the Toms River Democratic County Committee’s candidate selection process for upcoming mayoral and council-at-large elections.
Paul C. Williams, a candidate in the Democrat primary election for council in June claims party leaders disenfranchised eligible voters from participating in a recent vote to choose new candidates for mayor and council.
According to Williams, Jeff Horn, Chair of the committee, announced a remote selection process via Zoom poll, bypassing the body of County Committee members. Critics argue that Horn had no legal authority to alter the selection process and that the move violates state laws governing candidate selection.
Williams claims, according to state law, voting in these matters must be by “secret ballot,” but the Zoom process offered no such assurance. Additionally, state law mandates a majority of eligible committee members must be present for any vote. Toms River has 126 seats in its County Committee, 81 of which are filled. State law would require at least 41 of those 81 members to be present for the vote.
Results emailed at 6:14 pm showed Ben Giovine receiving 43 votes for Mayor and Ruby Franco receiving 33 votes for Council. However, questions arose about the legitimacy of these results.
Williams and critics allege there wasn’t the required minimum number of eligible persons present or participating in the vote.
Furthermore, he claims the Zoom link was not securely distributed. Anyone with the link could join the meeting and vote, potentially multiple times.
Photographic and video evidence has reportedly been gathered to challenge the vote.
A lawsuit is being prepared to challenge the selection of Ben Giovine for Mayor and Ruby Franco for Council. Legal proceedings aim to invalidate the results and call for a new, law-abiding selection process.