'Foreign'-tainted Bedminster election still undecided

SOMERVILLE, N.J. -- A bitter local election marred by hints of terrorist links remained undecided Monday, even as a recount awarded the leading candidate one additional vote.

Republican Township Committeeman Kurt Joerger now leads Democrat Allen Mass by two votes following a recount of 289 absentee ballots by the Somerset County Board of Elections. Still to be recounted are 26 provisional votes.

The normally low-profile race garnered international attention after Joerger and his running mate, Committeeman Don Cross, put out a flier the night before the election accusing Mass and his Democratic running mate, Zaheer Jan, of accepting campaign funds from "foreign nationals, not local residents."

The Democrats called that an attempt to imply that Jan, who was born in India and raised in Pakistan, could be tied to terrorists. They say they have not accepted funds from foreigners, which is illegal. Cross and Joerger have declined to discuss the flier while the election remains disputed.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--electionflier-for1129nov29,0,7371339.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire