By Sunayana Prabhu
FAIR HAVEN – A malfunction in Monmouth County voting machine software that caused errors in vote tallies during the Nov. 8, 2022 general election has affected two municipalities in the Two River area, Fair Haven and Tinton Falls. While those towns are unlikely to see outcomes overturned, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin launched an investigation into the election results in those towns and two others, including Ocean Township where results of a school board election are in doubt.
“I was notified by the Borough Clerk on Jan 17th that there was a voting machine tabulation error,” Fair Haven Mayor Josh Halpern confirmed to The Two River Times by email, Monday, Jan. 30.
The Monmouth County Clerk’s election website shows Halpern, a Republican, receiving 2,020 votes and Councilman Chris Rodriguez, a Democrat, receiving 1,278 in the mayoral contest. Republicans Kristina Hoey and Andrew LaBarbera received 1,747 and 1,704 votes, respectively for council seats; their Democratic challengers, Meghan Chrisner-Keefe and Michael McCue garnered 1,576 and 1,506.
Any information regarding a new vote tally in Fair Haven has not been released yet, Halpern said. “I was told that the error did not change the outcome of our election.”
The miscalculations have been attributed to Monmouth County’s voting machine software vendor Election System & Software (ESS) and human error.
At the state of the county address last month, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone said he was “calling for a meeting with Election Systems & Software to talk about how and why this happened, so that Monmouth County can be sure the issues are fixed. Please know Monmouth County is leaving no stone unturned to fully get to the bottom of this and to make sure it never happens again.”
Tabulation errors in the school board race in Ocean Township revealed that the software may have compromised results there, reversing a decision by one vote. Irene Gilman, president of the Ocean Township Board of Education, confirmed in a statement Jan. 17 that the township received official notification from the Monmouth County Board of Elections regarding “a tabulation error” in the software used in the voting machines, Gilman said. She also noted the board is working with the Monmouth County Board of Elections to resolve the situation.
After Gilman’s statement, State Sen. Vin Gopal (D- 11), who represents Ocean Township and other towns in Monmouth County, including the Two River-area municipalities of Colts Neck, Red Bank, Shrewsbury and Tinton Falls, called on the New Jersey Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s office to launch investigations into the voting tabulation errors. Gopal, referring to the Ocean Township Board of Education election, said in a press statement Jan. 18 that, “reversing the outcome of a race over two months after the election is completely unacceptable and creates an opening for questions about the integrity of elections in Monmouth County, and the state.”
He further noted that officials owe voters “complete transparency on how these errors occurred and what steps are being taken to ensure they never repeat. A full investigation of all processes of the County Clerk and Board of Election, in addition to anything relating to the elections process needs to happen immediately.”
In a Jan. 24 release, Platkin announced the appointment of former N.J. Attorney General and federal prosecutor Peter C. Harvey and the law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb, and Tyler LLP on a pro-bono basis to investigate Monmouth County’s November 2022 election. They will determine whether anyone purposely violated the New Jersey Civil Rights Act by tampering with the software or if it was just human error. They will also recommend any future improvements to state voting procedures.
In a statement, Monmouth County election officials asked the state to require election equipment be re-certified annually and to develop a pre-election checklist for all municipalities to determine if election software is working properly.
“Protecting New Jerseyans’ right to vote in a free and fair election is paramount to our democracy, and ensuring the integrity of that process is essential,” Platkin said in the release.
The N.J. Attorney General’s Office has also filed a legal complaint in Monmouth County Superior Court requesting a recount in the 2022 elections in Fair Haven, Tinton Falls, Ocean Township and Belmar.
The article originally appeared in the February 2 – 8, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
