Judge orders Lt. Gov. Guadagno to show why Carl Lewis should be excluded from mail-in ballots

Published: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 3:00 PM     Updated: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 6:46 PM

 By Matt Friedman/Statehouse Bureau 

Carl Lewis, pictured in an April 11 photo, is attempting to make a state Senate run, but questions of his residency status have come up.

TRENTON — A federal judge has ordered Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Attorney General Paula Dow and the three county clerks within the 8th Legislative District to show why state Senate candidate Carl Lewis should not be included on mail-in primary election ballots scheduled to be sent out tomorrow.

Guadagno, in her dual role as secretary of state, yesterday ruled Lewis does not meet the state’s four year residency requirement and should be kicked off the ballot.

Lewis, a nine-time Olympic track and field gold medalist, immediately challenged her decision in federal court, arguing the requirement violates the federal constitution, that it violates his civil rights, and asking for a restraining order on the printing and mailing of ballots without Lewis’s name on them.

U.S. District Court Judge Noel L. Hillman said that if Lewis is later found eligible to run, “the mailing of inaccurate or incomplete primary election ballots could constitute irreparable harm and confuse voters on a matter of fundamental public interest.” 

The Division of Elections website says tomorrow is the day county clerks begin sending out mail-in ballots. 

Hillman, however, also said Lewis "has failed to demonstrate sufficient evidence regarding the immediacy of any irreparable harm" because "the record is not sufficiently developed" as to when county clerks in the district planned to send out the ballots. 

Hillman ordered the state and county clerks to make their case against an injunction on sending out the ballots tomorrow at 1pm in federal court in Camden.

Lewis's attorneys also appealed Guadagno's decision in state court today, charging his two Republican challengers did not have standing to try to kick him off the Democratic primary ballot; the residency requirement violates the U.S. Constitution; and that even if the requirement were valid Lewis would meet it.