Paterson school board candidate Dania Martinez sues for recount after losing by eight votes | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Paterson school board candidate Dania Martinez sues for recount after losing by eight votes

By Jayed Rahman
Published: November 21, 2019

dania-martinez

School board candidate Dania Martinez, who lost by just eight votes after all the ballots were counted last week, sued for a recount on Wednesday afternoon.

Martinez is seeking a recount of all districts, mail-in ballots, and provisional ballots, according to her petition. She finished fourth place behind incumbent Emanuel Capers after the final count.

Capers had 3,517 votes to his name while Martinez had 3,509, according to official election results.

Martinez was behind Capers by 115 votes on election night, but closed the gap when remaining mail-in and provisional ballots were counted last Friday.

“I wonder who is going to pay for it? The PAC?” remarked Capers when told there were talks of a recount on Friday afternoon. He is referring to a Hudson County Political Action Committee that backed Martinez and two of her running mates by dropping multiple mailers. “You want to do a recount for a free position? A lot of contracts must be riding on this.”

Unlike City Council members, who receive more than $40,000 per year, school board members, who serve on a volunteer basis, receive $0.

Capers could not be reached for comments on Wednesday.

Martinez did not respond to a call for comment on Thursday morning.

The matter is before Passaic County judge Joseph S. Conte. He has to issue a order granting the recount and recheck petition.

Conte will set the date and time for the recount.

Three school board seats were up for grabs on election day. Seven people ran for the seats. Other winners were Corey Teague and Vincent Arrington.

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