In a hearing at 9am this morning Judge Marlene Lynch Ford listened to arguments from both sides of the lawsuit, initiated by Paul Kanitra, stemming from the hotly contested March 25th Point Pleasant Beach Republican Club’s Nomination Voting Process for a Republican Mayoral Candidate. Judge Ford citing many irregularities in multiple areas of the club vote, voters that participated and the entire process conducted that night that the most fair ruling would be to award no County Line. This will invalidate the controversial Point Pleasant Beach Republican’s Club Nomination and Endorsement of Stephen Reid for Mayor and Tom Toohey and Tom Vogel for Council. The lawsuit alleges that Non- Republican Voters, Non Residents and un registered voters were able to vote in the Point Pleasant Beach Republican Club’s Nomination Vote. John Jackson who presided over the vote said to the packed crowd that there was no way to verify residency or whether the voter was registered.

This ruling is being seen as steps to ensure that the process going forward is fair. When reached for comment Paul Kanitra expressed, “ It’s really a victory for the residents of Point Pleasant beach and for the democratic process as a whole. Our slate feels incredibly confident now going into the final 7 weeks leading up to the June 4th election. All we wanted was fairness in the process and now the people’s voices should carry us to victory ”

Multiple previous attempts to reach out to Mayor Stephen Reid have been unsuccessful. Should he or a member of his team wish to reach out to Ocean County Scanner News they may do so by emailing [email protected]

-OCSN32 Julianne

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