Record 9/22: Weinberg to Appeal Loss in Party Vote

Appellate Division or bust, Teaneck Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg will challenge Tuesday's court ruling that kept five ballots from last Thursday's Bergen County Democratic Committee caucus uncounted, as reported in today's Record. See today's Record or click on http://tinyurl.com/cwt2b for the article at the Record's http://www.Bergen.com (registration required).

Weinberg to appeal loss in party vote Thursday, September 22, 2005

Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg said Wednesday she will appeal a judge's refusal to count five disqualified votes that could have given her Byron Baer's vacated state Senate seat.

Although Wednesday was the last day to change the Nov. 8 ballot, the Teaneck Democrat said her lawyers would argue that the deadline should be extended, much as it was in 2002, when Frank Lautenberg replaced Robert Torricelli on the ballot for a U.S. Senate seat.

"This is just a district election, not statewide, and we have more time than was the case with Lautenberg," Weinberg said.

"If we're going to have any reform movement [in the Democratic Party], we've got to have the courts on our side," she said.

In his ruling Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne said he wouldn't open the ballots because he was reluctant to interfere with intra-party conflicts. The decision upheld Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa's narrow win in a party election to fill Baer's seat through November and also be the Democratic nominee on Election Day.

Zisa said he was disappointed with Weinberg's decision.

"I was hoping we could focus on November," he said.

Weinberg said she would take the case no further than the Appellate Division.

- Scott Fallon Copyright © 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Alan Sohn NEW: Now available in convenient blog format at http://TEANECK.blogspot.com See http://www.TeaneckInfo.com for the complete Teaneck Community Calendar. Send your event to mailto:Events@TeaneckInfo.com for inclusion on the site. "Scientia Est Potentia"