Candidate Who Lost by 3 Votes Calls Daughter's Ballot Bogus

A Republican township official in New Jersey who lost reelection by three votes wants the mail-in ballot cast by his daughter, who voted Democratic in the Nov. 8 election, thrown out. The Republican Party of Morris County maintains that several young Democrats cast ballots by mail though they didn't meet residency requirements, the Guardian reports. Tom Baio, a member of the Mendham Township Committee, said his daughter was one of them. He and his wife had sent the ballot to their daughter, Ariana Baio, the candidate told the Observer-Tribune. Ariana Baio is a journalist who lives in New York City.

Tom Baio nevertheless said he and the party intend to file a lawsuit to uncount the votes. "As shameful as it is, we need to correct this behavior," said Baio, who lost to Democrat Lauren Spirig. "I know I will." Local GOP Chair Laura Ali announced the allegations in a statement that did not mention Baio's daughter but did mention Democratic Chair Amalia Duarte's daughter, who Ali said voted despite living in Tennessee. Baio, Ali said, "is now creating divisiveness in Mendham Township and attacking the voting rights of the young people." The law says voters must reside in the county for at least 30 days before the election. Baio lost his race by two votes in the first count, and three votes after a recount. (More mail-in voting stories.)