Female county committee candidates added to Camden ballot after ‘clerical error’

Read the original story at NewJerseyGlobe.com

A judge has ordered 13 female county committee candidates to be placed on the ballot in Camden after the city’s clerk failed to properly file their petitions and grant the slate a spot on the ballot. 

The city clerk of Camden acknowledged the office had committed a “clerical error” in the aftermath of a jammed photocopier, which resulted in Black and Latina female candidates who filed under the “Community First Real Democrats for Camden” slate to be left off the ballot. The Camden County Clerk’s Office said they could only fix the ballot to include the slate with a court order, which the slate obtained on Thursday.

A filing says plaintiff Tyann La’Shae Harris delivered three folders of petitions to the city clerk’s office, the second of which contained the petitions for female county committee candidates. The lawsuit says the clerk’s photocopier jammed while processing this folder, and the contents were returned to Harris without her being informed of the issue.

“We know that ballot manipulation and ‘politricks’ are nothing new in Camden,” Harris said in a release. “And as women of color, we’re often told or expected to sit on the sidelines and wait quietly for our turn. This ballot access victory is a testament to the strength of our movement that will put the Community First.”

The “Community First Real Democrats for Camden” slate is challenging party-backed candidates for the county committee seats. The New Jersey Working Families Party assisted the slate in its lawsuit.

Mail-in ballots for the June 10 election will begin to be sent out on Saturday.