Cohen v. Rossi

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of relief in a mayoral election challenge, holding that the plaintiff did not establish substantial statutory violations that seriously undermined confidence in the election result. The court upheld the use of clerk employees to retrieve absentee ballots, the counting of fourteen same-day ballots with delayed handwritten endorsements, the counting of ballots despite missing transfer affidavits or report entries, and the rejection of challenges unsupported by sufficient evidence. It also declined to review additional alleged irregularities that were inadequately briefed. Justice Ecker, concurring in part, would treat the drop-box retrieval statute as ambiguous before consulting legislative history, while Justice D’Auria, joined by the Chief Justice, would limit retrieval authority to the clerk and qualified assistant clerks but agreed that the record did not show an effect on the election outcome.