DailyRecord.com: Council Hopeful Gets Second Chance

The Morristown man, whose petition to run in the June primary as a Democrat representing the First Ward was thrown out due to a clerical error, is getting another chance to get his papers in order, according to a DailyRecord.com article.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Brennan ruled in Morristown on Thursday that a technical error had occured when Christopher Kehrli had sought to get the minimum 18 signatures required to be placed on the June 7 ballot, and that it had not been a violation of election law, according to the article. As a result, Kehrli must submit corrections to the town by noon on Friday.

Kehrli, an associate with the Riker Danzig law firm, would run unopposed for a seat in the First Ward currently occupied by Independent Rebecca Feldman, who is seeking re-election. His nominating petition, along with those of fellow Town Council candidates, Republican Naveen Nadipuram in the Second Ward and Jessica Williamson in the Fourth Ward, had been brought before Town Clerk Matt Stechauner by Morristown Democratic Committee Chair Mary Dougherty for examination. Only Kehrli's was thrown out.

In a letter to Dougherty from Morristown Town Clerk Matt Stechauner, dated April 20, Stechauner wrote that he had contacted Kehrli about whether or not he had carried the petitions himself. At first, Stechauner says in the letter, Kehrli said he had "definitely carried one of them and possibly two of them." In a later meeting, Stechauner writes that Kehrli said he had carried one petition, but had not carried the other two. In the letter, Stechauner notes that Dougherty also indicated Kehrli had signed each of his petitions as a petition signer, as required for a carrier of the petition to also be a signee.

Based on this, and on legal advice obtained from Morristown Assistant Municipal Attorney Joni Noble McDonnell, Stechauner deemed that "the petitions are defective and invalid." Kehrli as a result filed a lawsuit against the town on Monday, April 25.

For the complete article, go here.