ELEC

Gov. Jon Corzine today nominated Amos Saunders, a 76-year-old retired Superior Court Judge from Passaic County, to serve as the new Republican member of the Election Law Enforcement Commission. The Republican seat has been vacant since December 2006. Corzine’s last attempt to fill it was in October 2007, when his nomination of Gabriella Morris was quickly withdrawn after realizing that Morris, who handles government affairs for Prudential, could not hold the post because ELEC also regulates lobbyists.

Today is Election Day in several hundred municipalities across the state that elect school board members – an appropriate time to remind Gov. Jon Corzine that a vacancy still exists on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.  Three months ago, Corzine’s staff indicated that the appointment of a Republican ELEC member would come “within weeks or even days.”  The seat has been vacant since Corzine named Judge Theodore Davis to serve as the Chief Operating Officer of Camden in December 2006. 

Now that ELEC has rejected Wayne Bryant’s request to use leftover campaign funds to pay for his legal defense, what happens to Joseph Coniglio, who has already spent $90,000 from his warchest to pay his lawyer?

The vote by the Election Law Enforcement Commission to postpone a ruling allowing a candidate to use campaign funds for their legal defense in a criminal matter was along party lines: Democratic Commissioners Jerry English and Albert Burstein voted to postpone the issue, while Republican Commissioner Peter Tober voted no.

While state law requires ELEC to be equally divided among both political parties, Democrats have enjoyed a 2-1 majority since December 2006, when Governor Jon Corzine named one of the Republican Commissioners, retired Judge Theodore Davis to serve as the Chief Operating Officer of the City of Camden. 

Had the Republican seat been filled, it is possible that the motion to postpone the decision would have been tied at 2-2 – lacking the votes to pass.  That would have forced ELEC to act today.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission is expected to issue an advisory opinion in about two weeks on former State Senator Wayne Bryant’s ability to use his leftover campaign funds to help finance his legal defense.  Bryant, who has about $650,000 in his warchest, has been indicted on twenty counts of official corruption.   Another former State Senator, Joseph Coniglio, has already used about $90,000 from his campaign account to pay his lawyer.  Coniglio, who is the target of a federal probe but has not been charged, dropped his bid for re-election last year.