BALL OF CONFUSION:

Change is chaos, county clerks say (PETE McALEER, October 4, 2002, Press of Atlantic City)

New Jersey's 21 county clerks met Thursday with Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg to find out what they need to do to put former Sen. Frank Lautenberg's name on election ballots and take Sen. Robert Torricelli's name off.

The solution could be expensive for Democrats and a real pain in the neck for county clerks from both parties.

"This is chaos," said Cape May County Clerk Angela Pulvino, a Republican. [...]

More than 1,600 absentee ballots have already been sent out and returned. New ballots will have to be sent out with the postage paid. The clerks must then document the expenses and send them each morning to the Attorney General's Office so the Democratic Party can be billed. [...]

State law says candidates who drop out within 51 days of an election cannot be replaced on a ballot. Torricelli dropped out of the race with 36 days to go, but the state Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that voters should be allowed to choose between candidates from the two major political parties.

One finds it impossible to read that last paragraph without getting angry. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 4, 2002 10:51 PM