TOMS RIVER, N.J. – A Superior Court judge has thrown out the August ballot-position drawing for the Toms River Regional Board of Education election, handing incumbent Board President Ashley Lamb and her reelection team a legal defeat less than two months before voters head to the polls.
Superior Court Judge Robert E. Brenner, appointed by former Governor Chris Christie, on Thursday vacated the Aug. 10 drawing conducted by the Ocean County Clerk’s Office and ordered officials to conduct an entirely new drawing. The order also declares that candidates Elizabeth Huber and Laura Picurro were improperly grouped with Anthony Colucci without the written bracketing request required under New Jersey election law.
There is another notable provision.
Lamb — who isn’t only a school board candidate but also works as an appointed deputy Ocean County clerk — agreed not to participate in the new drawing this time around in her own ballot position drawing.
Ashley Lamb Will Not Participate in Redraw
The controversy attracted additional attention because of Lamb’s unusual position in the election process.
She is president of the Toms River Regional Board of Education, is seeking reelection and, since January, has also served as one of Ocean County’s two deputy county clerks under Clerk Jack Kelly. In Kelly’s medical absense Lamb and Catalano reportedly perform the functions as co-clerks.
The county publicly described Lamb as part of the Clerk’s Office leadership team when she was sworn into the position alongside Kelly and Catalano.
Shore News Network reported on Lamb’s appointment as deputy county clerk in January.
The county position carries an annual salary of approximately $150,000.
The original lawsuit did not allege that Lamb personally reached into the box and selected her own ballot position. Catalano told the court she wasn’t in the room or adjoining rooms when he conducted the drawing.
Huber and Picurro instead argued that the arrangement created a structural conflict because Lamb was simultaneously a candidate and part of the leadership of the government office conducting the ballot drawing.
Thursday’s order states plainly: “Defendant Ashley Lamb has agreed not to participate in the new drawing.”
The ruling comes days after Shore News Network reported on the lawsuit challenging the original Toms River ballot drawing, which had placed Lamb’s group in the coveted first position.
Judge Vacates Aug. 10 Drawing
Huber and Picurro sued the Ocean County Clerk’s Office, County Clerk John P. “Jack” Kelly, Deputy Clerk John Catalano and Lamb in her official capacity after the August drawing.
Their challenge focused on several issues, including candidate bracketing and Lamb’s dual position as a candidate and employee of the office responsible for administering the election.
The court did not simply order procedural changes going forward.
Brenner declared the Aug. 10 drawing “VACATED and SET ASIDE,” according to the three-page order filed Thursday.
The judge separately ruled that grouping Huber and Picurro with Colucci “without a timely written bracketing request” was contrary to state law and cannot be repeated during the new drawing.
That finding resolves one of the central disputes in the lawsuit.
The Clerk’s Office had argued that Huber and Picurro’s use of the same campaign slogan demonstrated their association and justified grouping candidates during the drawing. The challengers maintained that sharing a slogan did not replace the separate written request required to create a bracket.
The court sided with the challengers on that issue.
Under Brenner’s order, Kelly can bracket candidates only when they submitted a timely and valid written request and advised the Clerk’s Office of the order in which their names should appear.
Everyone else must be treated as an individual entry.
The new drawing must be public, and all candidates must receive notice.
Once completed, Kelly or his designee must publicly announce the results and produce a written certification identifying the order drawn and every candidate bracket recognized.
Court Orders County to Correct Ballots
Brenner went beyond ordering another drawing.
The Clerk’s Office must ensure that the new result — not the invalidated Aug. 10 drawing — is used when ballots are programmed, printed, mailed and distributed for the November election.
If any ballot proof, programming file, printed ballot or distributed ballot reflects the old order, county officials must “take all steps necessary to correct” it, the judge ordered.
The court also ordered officials to preserve the physical and electronic evidence surrounding both drawings.
That includes the slips, capsules and boxes used in the process, along with recordings, photographs, sign-in sheets, notices, bracketing requests, communications, ballot proofs, programming files, printer instructions and metadata.
Brenner retained jurisdiction over the case to enforce or modify the order if necessary as the November election approaches.
The order was marked opposed, with the judge noting that the reasons were placed on the court record Wednesday.
Lamb’s Record Is Already a Campaign Issue
The ballot defeat arrives as Lamb campaigns for another term on a school board that has faced bitter fights over spending, taxes and district leadership.
In April, Lamb voted for a new five-year contract for Superintendent Michael Citta.
That agreement immediately raised Citta’s salary from approximately $228,160 to $275,000 retroactive to July 1, 2025. He now earns $281,875 for the 2026-27 school year.
By the contract’s fifth and final year, his salary reaches $308,012.43.
Shore News Network reported on the superintendent contract and $306 million district budget when the board approved both in April.
Lamb voted yes.
The contract passed 5-1, with Marisa Matarazzo casting the lone opposing vote and two members abstaining because of conflicts involving school employees and family members.
The vote came as the district approved a 4.9% tax levy increase and continued dealing with years of financial problems attributed largely to state aid reductions.
Citta’s contract provides annual increases that take his salary to $290,331.25 in 2027-28, $299,041.19 in 2028-29 and $308,012.43 in 2029-30.
That decision, Lamb’s county employment and now the ballot litigation give voters several issues beyond the usual school curriculum and facilities debates as the campaign enters its final weeks.
A New Ballot Position Must Now Be Drawn
For Huber and Picurro, Thursday’s order provides the central relief they sought: the original drawing is gone.
The court did not grant every argument advanced in their lawsuit, including their request to move the drawing outside Ocean County. Instead, the county clerk or his designee will conduct the replacement under the procedures specified by Brenner.
The result also means Lamb’s slate does not automatically retain the first ballot position it received Aug. 10.
Everybody goes back into the drawing under the court-ordered rules.
The difference this time is that only properly bracketed candidates can be treated as groups, the process must be public, the results must immediately be certified — and Lamb will not participate.
In the past, former Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella was accused of playing with his balls in relation to ballot drawings. Former commissioners have told Shore News Network that they believe Colabella would stick the balls of his Republican allies in a freezer before each drawing, then pulling the cold balls out of the sack when the election drawing happened.
In one reported incident, a candidate brought a thermal temperature gun to measure the temperature of Colabella’s balls.
While it was never proven that Colabella engaged in deviant ball play during the drawing, rumors persisted about rigged ballot positioning in the election.
