It doesn’t appear that the courts are treating the Trenton city clerk’s tally of the three at-large council seats as an immediate issue now that the Dec. 13 runoff vote is underway.
Flavia Camuves, a lawyer representing the three unsuccessful candidates, filed the lawsuit Monday afternoon asking for a temporary restraining order — he wanted to stop election officials from sending out ballots — and seeking expedited treatment in the courts.
But by late Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Kay Walcott-Henderson had not scheduled a hearing on the matter.
It is not yet clear why the issue of emergency elections was not discussed today, but it is possible that Komuves is to blame.
There is a section on the civil case information statement that is filed that says, “Use this box to alert the court of any particulars of the case that may warrant separate handling or expedited resolution.” Komuves left it blank.
Last week, City Clerk Brandon Garcia ruled that a runoff in the at-large race was not needed, and the winners were Yazminelli Gonzalez, Crystal Feliciano and Jaci Edwards. The results of the 8 November general election were confirmed on Wednesday 23 November and the draw was held on the morning of Friday 25 November.
The alleged unsuccessful candidates — Kaja Manuel, Taywanda Terry-Wilson and Alex Bethea — hired Komuves to represent them. The attorney said in court documents that he had been asking Garcia to share his math since last week.
Kamuves argues that the statute provides for an alternative way of counting the runoff numbers, and he wants a Supreme Court judge to order an immediate halt to the election until his theory can be substantiated.
But Komuves waited until Monday evening to ask the court to close the election until Garcia explained how he counted the winners, even though he could have filed his emergency application as early as last Wednesday.
Garcia announced Yazminelli Gonzalez, Crystal Feliciano and Jassi Edwards as the three seat winners.
