The City of Bayonne has reversed course on the number of signed petitions of nomination required to make the May 12th ballot, again, after announcing a reduction on Wednesday.
Twitter photo.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
City Clerk Madelene Medina said last week that 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Ward council candidates need 25 petitions to make the non-partisan spring ballot, significantly less than what was announced on January 14th, both as HCV first reported.
However, since Wednesday, the Bayonne Law Department confirmed that Bill A-5117/S-3994, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Phil Murphy (D), sets the number of
་ required petitions based on the 2020 Census.
The 2020 Census reports that the 1st Ward population is 23,620, the 2nd Ward population is 23,746, and the 3rd Ward population is 24,320.
Therefore, council candidates for each ward require at least 50 valid signatures based on the population range of 10,000 to 25,000 residents in each ward.
According to the 2020 census, which reported Bayonne’s population as 71,686, candidates for mayor and council member at-large must obtain at least 100 valid signatures, the same as what was announced on January 28th.
Petitions are available at the clerk’s office at Bayonne City Hall, located at 630 Avenue C, Monday through Friday, except holidays, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The filing date for the signature certificates and other required documents is Thursday, February 26th, at 4:00 p.m.