The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has reversed course and will now provide legal representation to county Boards of Elections facing a federal lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee over access to voter-roll maintenance records.
The state has retained Connell Foley LLP as special counsel to represent the county election boards involved in the case. The move comes only days after the Division of Law told county election officials they would need to secure their own attorneys because the federal voter-records dispute fell outside the state’s usual scope of representation.
State Changes Position
Deputy Attorney General Brian Ragunan said the acting attorney general agreed to exercise discretionary authority to provide representation because the state’s interests are involved in the litigation.
The state will provide lawyers through Connell Foley, but it will not indemnify the county boards against potential liability, meaning counties could still be responsible for any damages or other liability ultimately imposed.
The reversal resolves an immediate problem for the county election boards, which had been left to find private counsel on short notice.
Lawsuit Seeks Voter-Roll Records
The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Republican National Committee, the New Jersey Republican Party, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. and state Sen. Anthony Bucco.
It names state election officials and election administrators in Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. The plaintiffs are seeking records related to how New Jersey maintains its voter rolls, including information about voters removed from the rolls, inactive registrations, address-confirmation notices and communications with state and federal agencies.
The plaintiffs argue that the requested records are subject to public disclosure under the National Voter Registration Act.
Case Follows 6,600 Registration Error
The legal dispute follows New Jersey’s disclosure that a software problem at the Motor Vehicle Commission resulted in roughly 6,600 people being transmitted into the voter-registration system despite indicating that they were not U.S. citizens.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill attributed the problem to a software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission system. The state says roughly 6,600 people were mistakenly registered after indicating that they were not U.S. citizens, and approximately 340 of those newly registered because of the error ultimately voted.
Mullin’s claim that more than 30,000 noncitizens voted in New Jersey is not supported by the state’s data. New Jersey’s published figures instead point to the 6,600 erroneous registrations described above.
The RNC, New Jersey Republican Party, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. and state Sen. Anthony Bucco have filed a federal lawsuit seeking voter-roll maintenance records. The plaintiffs say they want records showing how the registrations occurred and what steps election officials are taking to review and remove potentially ineligible registrations
Attorney General Davenport Recused
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has recused herself from the matter because of her previous work involving voting-rights litigation.
That left the representation decision to the acting attorney general, who opted to provide outside counsel rather than have the Division of Law directly handle the county boards’ defense.
Earlier RNC Case Was Dismissed
The current lawsuit follows an earlier RNC case seeking voter-roll records from New Jersey.
In July, a federal judge dismissed that earlier case for lack of standing. The new lawsuit, filed September 22, adds county election officials and again seeks access to voter-list maintenance records under federal law.
The latest development does not resolve the underlying dispute over whether the records must be released. It changes who will represent the county election boards as that question moves through federal court.
Sources: New Jersey Globe, News 12 New Jersey, Bloomberg Law, Democracy Docket, U.S. District Court records
By NJ RADAR Team