Former Eatontown Councilwoman Sues, Says She Was Excluded From Ballot

EATONTOWN, NJ — A former Democratic Eatontown councilwoman is now suing the town, saying she — and some Republican candidates — were incorrectly rejected from the ballot last week.

The woman suing is Jasmine Story, a former town councilwoman. Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. (D) is running for re-election and Story seeks to challenge him. Story said she interprets the clerk's decision to reject her as an attempt to allow Talerico to run unopposed.

Talerico said he did not not want to respond, seeing as the case is now being worked out in the court system.

Story said Eatontown town clerk Julie Martin was wrong last week when she rejected her petition to run. Interestingly, Story said names submitted by Eatontown Republicans were similarly filed as a "joint petition," and Martin similarly rejected their names for mayoral and council candidates.

Last Monday, April 4 was the deadline to submit one's name to run for town council. Story said she filed her candidate petition "jointly" with Todd Miller and Angela Brunelli, who are also seeking a seat on the Eatontown borough council this year.

Story is running for mayor and Miller and Brunelli are running for council. All three are running as Democrats, with the backing of the Eatontown Democratic Party.

However, Story said her joint filing was rejected by both the town and county clerk — "even though previous filings for joint offices in Eatontown, as well as other jurisdictions, historically have been accepted," she argues.

Story said the only way the clerk would accept Miller and Brunell's signatures was if she agreed to remove her name from the joint petition, which she did. She is now fighting to get it back on.

Story's lawsuit was specifically filed against Eatontown town clerk Martin, Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon and the assistant county election supervisor Cassandra Achille in her lawsuit.

None of them responded when asked by Patch if they had a comment or explanation.

Story is a lawyer and she filed the lawsuit herself last Friday, April 8 in Monmouth County Superior Court. She is asking a Monmouth County Superior Court judge to correct what she says is the town clerk's mistake and place her name on the primary ballot.

While one only has to submit 21 signatures to run for town office, Story said 29 registered Democrats in Eatontown signed her petition last Monday.

She also said all but two (who were out of state) of the 29 signed additional affidavits swearing they fully knew and intended to sign a joint petition for Story for mayor and Miller and Brunelli for council.

Story’s lawsuit asks that the Monmouth County Clerk not prepare the primary ballot until her complaint is resolved.

On Monday of this week, Monmouth County Superior Court issued a temporary and preliminary injunction in Story’s favor. Her case will be heard in the county courthouse Wednesday.

“The fact that I even have to seek court intervention is beyond disgraceful, but is sadly consistent with the treatment I’ve received by the county," said Story in a statement. "Luckily, I have the resources to challenge this, but not every candidate does. This is antithetical to the exact opposite of a the democratic process and undermines the voters by ensuring the incumbent runs unopposed. From my perspective, it seems as though the powers that be went out of their way to ensure that the current Mayor runs unopposed."

The primary election will be June 7 this year, but the deadline for ballot changes is mid-April. The general election will be Nov. 8.

Here is who is on the Eatontown town Council currently: https://www.eatontownnj.com/27...

Mayor Talerico will seek re-election. No Republican has filed to challenge him — although that may change depending on how Story's lawsuit is resolved.

There are two seats up on the Eatontown town Council: Current Council members Kevin Gonzalez and Maria Grazia Escalante (both Republican) are asking voters to re-elect them this year. Miller, Brunelli, Virginia East and Meir Araman, all Democrats, are also running.

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