A total of 33 voting machines, mostly for polling locations in Newark’s predominately Black Central, South and West Wards, were not delivered before the polls opened at 6 AM this morning.
It’s not clear what time they finally arrived this morning.
“My understanding is that they have been delivered,” said Patty Spango, the new Essex County Superintendent of Elections.
But Spango refused to answer any questions regarding the circumstances of the delays.
“No comment,” she said before hanging up.
The New Jersey Globe has learned that Spango hired the Newark-based Brantley Bros. Moving & Storage company to deliver voting machines from their warehouse in Belleville to polling locations across Essex County.
The company decided to start with locations furthest away from their location and work their way back to Newark. They ended up last night with 33 undelivered machines before drivers went home and resumed their deliveries after 6 AM. They miscalculated how much time they needed to complete their route, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
Isaac (Ike) King, the owner of Brantley Bros., did not immediately return an 11:19 AM call seeking comment.
In unrelated news, Dominion Voting Systems did not deliver remote card readers for new election machines that went into service in Essex County today.
Just five readers are available for today’s primary election, and they will be used in Essex’s largest municipalities.
The result will mean a delay in results being uploaded into the system, since voting machine cartridges will need to be hand-delivered to Newark for vote counts to occur.
Spango, a former West Orange Council President, was named to the post earlier this year to replace Edna Baugh, a Republican who retired after the 2020 election. She had previously served as deputy superintendent.
Spango, a two-term councilwoman, is a longtime player in Democratic politics. He son, James Spango, is the mayor of Roseland and the chief of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department. She is the former owner of Starlite Pizza in West Orange.
Body of text by David Wildstein
A total of 33 voting machines, mostly for polling locations in Newark’s predominately Black Central, South and West Wards, were not delivered before the polls opened at 6 AM this morning.
It’s not clear what time they finally arrived this morning.
“My understanding is that they have been delivered,” said Patty Spango, the new Essex County Superintendent of Elections.
But Spango refused to answer any questions regarding the circumstances of the delays.
“No comment,” she said before hanging up.
The New Jersey Globe has learned that Spango hired the Newark-based Brantley Bros. Moving & Storage company to deliver voting machines from their warehouse in Belleville to polling locations across Essex County.
The company decided to start with locations furthest away from their location and work their way back to Newark. They ended up last night with 33 undelivered machines before drivers went home and resumed their deliveries after 6 AM. They miscalculated how much time they needed to complete their route, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
Isaac (Ike) King, the owner of Brantley Bros., did not immediately return an 11:19 AM call seeking comment.
In unrelated news, Dominion Voting Systems did not deliver remote card readers for new election machines that went into service in Essex County today.
Just five readers are available for today’s primary election, and they will be used in Essex’s largest municipalities.
The result will mean a delay in results being uploaded into the system, since voting machine cartridges will need to be hand-delivered to Newark for vote counts to occur.
Spango, a former West Orange Council President, was named to the post earlier this year to replace Edna Baugh, a Republican who retired after the 2020 election. She had previously served as deputy superintendent.
Spango, a two-term councilwoman, is a longtime player in Democratic politics. He son, James Spango, is the mayor of Roseland and the chief of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department. She is the former owner of Starlite Pizza in West Orange.