After votes were counted twice in 4 New Jersey towns, state AG is investigating

Plus: The local paper that first reported on "George Scamtos" [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] NJ attorney general's office investigating after votes counted twice in 4 Monmouth County towns [By Louis C. Hochman]( [a roll of 'I Voted' stickers] Shutterstock The New Jersey attorney general’s office will investigate how votes were counted twice in some Monmouth County elections last November, [potentially flipping the results of one race](. Election Systems and Software — which produces voting systems used broadly nationwide, including in about a third of New Jersey's counties — said a a USB drive with results was "loaded twice into the results reporting module." The company said safeguards in its software would still normally prevent votes from being counted twice, but a technician reinstalling software over the summer skipped a step and that feature wasn’t working. The problem [was first reported last week by the New Jersey Globe political news blog]( run by David Wildstein, a longtime Republican politician and confessed mastermind of the Bridgegate scandal during Gov. Chris Christie's administration. In [a separate report]( The Globe also said former Belmar Councilman James Bean filed a public records request in November after noticing inconsistencies in election results. Bean told the blog he reached out for weeks to election officials, but didn’t hear back from the county’s superintendent of elections until December. Only one race was close enough for its outcome to potentially change: Steve Clayton’s 20-vote victory over Jeffrey Weinstein for the Ocean Township school board. Clayton took office earlier this month. Other races in Belmar, Fair Haven and Tinton Falls also showed discrepancies in their tallies. Former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, who served in the role from 2003 to 2006, will oversee the probe. He's working with attorneys hired on a pro-bono basis by the state Division of Civil Rights, who will also make recommendations for future election reform. [Read more here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- More political headlines from Gothamist: [a close-up of Rep. George Santos] [George Santos claimed to be a victim of attempted murder in resurfaced podcast]( Then-Rep.-elect George Santos told a Brazilian podcast last December that someone tried to murder him, and that his home was also vandalized because of his affiliation with the GOP. [A close-up of Amy DeGise] [Amy DeGise's hit-and-run case heads to NJ court that specializes in plea deals]( Jersey City Councilmember Amy DeGise, who was caught on video last summer hitting a cyclist with her SUV and driving off, is appearing in a remand court, where she could potentially enter a plea and be sentenced all in one hearing. [Gov. Kathy Hochul] [Hochul 'considering options' after chief judge nominee rejected]( Gov. Kathy Hochul and supporters of Judge Hector LaSalle say his nomination wasn't killed when the state Senate's judiciary committee voted him down, arguing that the state constitution requires a vote of the full Senate. [a gas stove burner] [Adams dishes on gas stoves as Hochul proposes to ban them in new construction]( Mayor Eric Adams on Monday criticized Gov. Hochul's pitch for a future statewide ban on gas stove sales, arguing that as "a good cook," he can't "get the right setting" with an electric stove. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [the logo for New Yorker Radio Hour] [A local paper first sounded the alarm on George Santos. Nobody listened.]( The publisher and managing editor from the North Shore Leader recount their initial report on "George Scamtos," and discuss how New York's redistricting fiasco enabled Santos to pull off an improbable victory. [LISTEN]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential political coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list