Gloucester Clerk Hogan Accused of Illegal Ballot Manipulation
Gloucester County, NJ – September 26, 2025 – The Dhillon Law Group, on behalf of plaintiffs Jonathan M. Sammons, Byron Driscoll, and the Gloucester County Republican Committee, has filed an emergency lawsuit against Gloucester County Clerk James N. Hogan for unlawfully redesigning the November 2025 General Election ballot in violation of state election law.
According to the verified complaint, Clerk Hogan conducted the official ballot draw on August 11, 2025, publicly assigning Republican candidates to Column A and Democrats to Column B. However, without notifying candidates, party officials, or voters, Hogan later abandoned the legally mandated column format and secretly issued a redesigned “office block” ballot. This change scattered Republican candidates across separate boxes rather than grouping them together under Column A as required by statute.
The lawsuit argues that Hogan’s actions violate multiple provisions of New Jersey election law, including N.J.S.A. 19:14-6, 19:14-8, and 19:14-12, which require candidates of the same party to be listed together in the same column, in the order determined by the ballot draw. Plaintiffs assert that the unlawful redesign has already caused significant voter confusion, particularly after the Gloucester GOP invested resources urging voters to “Vote Column A.”
“New Jersey law is clear and unambiguous: once the ballot draw is conducted, the County Clerk is obligated to design the General Election ballot in column format, grouping candidates of each party together,” said Josiah Contarino, Esq., of the Dhillon Law Group, counsel for the plaintiffs. “The Clerk’s unilateral decision to disregard that requirement not only violates the law but also undermines public confidence in the integrity of Gloucester County’s elections.”
The complaint also alleges that vote-by-mail ballots featuring the unlawful design have already been mailed to voters, further compounding the risk of confusion. Plaintiffs are seeking emergency declaratory and injunctive relief to require the Clerk to reissue ballots in compliance with state law and restore the proper Column A/Column B format.