UPDATE: Clerk Believes Candidate's Petition Meets Legal Requirements

UPDATE (4 p.m.): Township Clerk Patricia DiRocco has completed her review of the nominating petitions, and believes the petition meets legal requirements.

"As of right now, I have concluded that the petitions that were turned in to me are deemed to be complete," she said.

ORIGINAL STORY (12:19 p.m.): Township Clerk Patricia DiRocco is investigating a complaint by Dock Watch Hollow resident Michael Mullaney into the nomination of George Lazo for the Township Committee, but the candidate says it's due to an error in the voter registration.

Lazo and Michael Marion were tapped by local Republican party members for the nominations during a screening process and vote held March 27. The complaint states Lazo was not a registered Republican at that time, and therefore ineligible for the nomination under state statutes. The complaint states the Somerset County Board of Elections shows Lazo registered as a Republican on April 5, 2011.

Mullaney also charges Lazo misrepresented himself when he told members of the Republican screening committee that he was a registered member of the party.

"I've done a lot of research and it [Lazo's nominating petition] should be invalid," Mullaney said. "It comes down to the basic fact he misrepresented himself to 26 screeners and I don't want him representing me on the Township Committee."

DiRocco said she was in the process of investigating the law and the complaint in order to "resolve it as soon as possible."

"What is happening right now is I'm checking the law and investigating it as we speak," she said. "I need to make sure that what the complaint says is the case."

"For some reason, I had been registered as an independent and when I found out, I notified them right away," Lazo said. He said he has been in contact with the county since about Jan. 1, trying to correct the error, which was finally rectified this month.

He added the voter list referenced at the GOP screening was one from October, so it showed him as "unafifliated," and not registered with the party.

Lazo had been a member of the township's Recreation Commission, and is active in the Watchung Hills Pop Warner Football program.

Patch will update this story as developments occur.