CRESSKILL, N.J.—A recount of votes on Dec. 2 by Bergen County Board of Elections will determine whether or not a hotly contested seat for Cresskill Council goes to challenger Leslie Kaplan, who holds a three-vote lead over the incumbent councilwoman.
Democratic Councilman-elect Kaplan is being challenged by incumbent Republican Councilwoman Simone Tsigounis, whose attorney filed a recount petition on Nov. 22 with Bergen County Superior Court.
Tsigounis initially was undecided about requesting a recount but due to the narrow victory for Kaplan following certification of all ballots—from voting machines, mail-in (absentee) ballots, and provisional ballots—she asked attorney Charles Rabolli, of Messineo Law, Montvale, to file a recount petition Nov. 21.
The petition for recount includes specific requests: making sure all who requested a mail-in ballot received it; making sure all mail-in ballots received by Nov. 7 were tabulated; and verifying ballots for any potential miscount of all ballots.
Reached Nov. 25, Kaplan said he was likely to be represented by an attorney at the recount.
Rabolli, representing Tsigounis, said it’s likely that the recount numbers will be known after noon on Dec. 2.
He said first a recheck of the voting machines used by voters Nov. 5 is conducted at the county’s warehouse in Moonachie, where machines are secured.
Following the vote total rechecks in Moonachie, attorneys and candidates head back to Board of Elections in Hackensack where the mail-in (or absentee) ballots are checked by eye.
Vote-by-mail ballots are usually tabulated via optical scanner but occasionally mistakes are made, said Rabolli.
In addition, Rabolli said they will look at all provisional ballots, counted and not counted, and assess whether they are valid as counted. He said three provisional ballots were rejected and they will learn the reasons why.
Recently, under state law, voters previously requesting vote-by-mail ballots were sent vote-by-mail ballots for the next election.
If the voter chose instead to vote at a local polling place, rather than by mail-in ballot, those voters were provided provisional ballots.
Rabolli represented Westwood incumbent Raymond Arroyo in 2018, filing a recount petition and challenging the residency status of some vote by mail ballots.
Arroyo won the election following the challenges; he now is mayor-elect.
Once the final certifications are made by the Board of Elections following the recounts, Rabolli said Tsigounis will evaluate whether to contest the election.
“This is my first time doing this and it allows the opportunity to explore the integrity of the election. It’s really an exploratory process. We’ll have to think hard about it after the recount,” Tsigounis said Nov. 26.
“We’ll have a lot to consider to help us make a decision after that about whether to challenge,” she said.
