What's the harm in a little (d)emocracy?

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If you want a peek at how the Union County Dem machine works, consider Roselle.

Last Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Katherine Dupuis threw out 31 absentee ballots from the borough's hotly contested June Democratic primary.

In doing so, she declared the actual winner to be Christine Dansereau, an ally of Mayor Garrett Smith.

Rosemarie Bullock, originally declared the top vote-getter, is allied with the Union County Dem machine.

The court case revolved around absentee ballots, and the rules involving their submission.

While she held that there was a POSSIBILITY OF FRAUD in the June election, she ruled narrowly on the law's requirements for how absentee ballots are to be handled to indicate the chain of custody.

The Ledger's Tom Moran weighed in on Friday. You will want to read his commentary in full to understand how deeply the county Dem machine views Roselle as a mere fief. In this light, the ballot hanky-panky is only a minor sideshow.

What PT is curious about is that the County Board of Elections, which is supposed to be fair and impartial, must have questions to answer about how it accepted these absentee ballots which were in obvious violation of the letter of the law.

Lastly, Moran cites a secret meeting of the Borough Council called by Assemblyman Neil Cohen, Charlotte DeFilippo's point man in Roselle. At this meeting, Cohen was going over lists of appointments with the Council -- in clear violation of the Sunshine Law.

Moran quotes County Dem chaiman Charlotte DeFilippo, "Should I help my political enemies? Does that make any sense?"

The story of secret meetings may resonate with you, dear reader, if you've been paying any attention to Plainfield politics.

Seems to be SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in machine politics.

Ah, transparency! Ah, accountability!

Ah, wilderness!

-- Dan Damon

Links to the online stories:

Overview: "Judge to rule soon in alleged Roselle voter fraud" -- ORIGINAL and ARCHIVED.

Judge's Ruling: "Judge upends council result in Roselle primary" -- ORIGINAL and ARCHIVED.

Moran Commentary: "Mayor fights the political machinery in Roselle" -- ORIGINAL and ARCHIVED.

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