ORANGE, NJ — The nominating petitions for the four available ward seats on Orange City Council in the nonpartisan municipal election set for Tuesday, May 8, are now available in the City Clerk’s Office inside City Hall.
“The election will be on May 8 for the ward seats. The nominating petitions are available and they’ve been available since Jan. 3,“ City Clerk Joyce Lanier confirmed Monday, Jan. 22.
The petitions are for seats currently occupied by the following incumbents: North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason, South Ward Councilwoman Jamie Summers-Johnson, East Ward Councilman and City Council President Kerry Coley, and West Ward Councilman Harold Johnson.
All incumbent council members who intend to run will have to get nominating petitions from Lanier’s office as well as the requisite number of signatures, and file their petitions by the deadline. The same goes for challengers for the four seats.
“The requirements for running for one of the ward seats are the same as running for mayor or one of the at large council seats. You must be a citizen, resident and registered voter of the city of Orange Township for one year prior to the election,” Lanier said. “The number of signed petitions needed to run for public office varies from ward to ward, based on the number of registered voters in each ward. For the North Ward, you need 37 valid signatures. For the East Ward, it’s 44 signatures. West Ward is 34 and South Ward is 47.”
According to Lanier, once a prospective council candidate obtains the required number of signatures on their nominating petitions, the petitions must be turned in to her office to make sure they are filed and certified in time for the May election.
“The filing deadline is March 5, by 4 p.m.,” said Lanier. “They give them to me and I verify the signatures, using the state voter registration website. The final day for me to verify the signatures is March 12. March 14 is the ballot-drawing for positions on the May 8 ballot.”
For more information about the municipal election set for Tuesday, May 8, call the Orange City Clerk’s Office at 973-266-4025.
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