Communications and work products related to investigation into polling place irregularities
Dear Middlesex County Board of Elections,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
This is in response to the letter from Administrator Thomas Lynch sent to me dated 12/3/2019 which was in response to my letter of 10/21/2019 to the Attorney General and Secretary of State.
Referring to the stated documents, correspondence and meeting described in Thomas Lynch's letter of 12/3/2019, the following records are requested:
Records requested:
A. Regarding the "previously scheduled poll working training class on Wednesday, October 23, 2019" (2nd paragraph):
A.1. Any and all correspondence in all forms sent to any and all parties to: 1) announce the meeting and 2) invite attendees to the meeting
A.2. Any and all responses received to the correspondence in item 1 as well as any and all subsequent responses by either party.
A.3. The list of the poll workers, officials, and presenters who were 1) required to attend the meeting, 2) invited to attend the meeting, 3) Did attend the meeting.
A.4 The agenda of the meeting
A.5 The minutes of the meeting.
A.6 Any and all presentation materials used at the meeting.
A.7 Any and all handouts distributed to the presenters and/or attendees of the meeting.
A.8 Any summary or final reports regarding the meeting.
B. Regarding the "town-wide letter sent to poll workers in Piscataway" (3rd paragraph):
B.1 A copy of the letter
B.2 The list of recipients of the letter.
C. Regarding the "...warning letters with requests for retraining were sent to poll workers in Piscataway referenced in the report.." (4th paragraph):
C.1 A list of poll workers who were sent this letter.
C.2 A copy of the letter sent to each poll worker.
D. Regarding the "warning letter sent to other poll workers, not mentioned in the report, from our own staff's due diligence that takes place after every election", (also 4th paragraph):
D.1 A list of poll workers in all of Middlesex County who were sent this letter.
D.2 A copy of the letter sent to each poll worker.
E. Additionally, please provide the following records which were not referenced in the 12/3/2019 letter:
E.1 Any and all correspondence with voters mentioned in our report of 10/21/2019
Yours faithfully,
Herb Tarbous
Dear Mr. Tarbous,
Good morning.
Please be advised that the Board of Elections is processing your request to locate documents responsive to your OPRA request. Due to the extensive nature of your request, additional time beyond the seven (7) business days is required to process and locate responsive documents pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) 1.
Your request requires an extension of time until January 7, 2020.
Happy Holidays,
Thomas Lynch
Administrator
Middlesex County Board of Elections
1. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) specifically, OPRA states that, “the requestor shall be advised by the custodian when the record can be made available. If the record is not made available by that time, access shall be deemed denied.”
