A Republican is seeking to throw out his daughter's absentee ballot after she voted for his Democratic opponent, a report says

• New Jersey Republican committeeman Tom Baio lost his re-election bid by three votes.
• Baio is seeking to throw out his daughter's absentee ballot, who voted Democratic.
• Republicans allege that several young Democrats who do not live in the state cast absentee ballots.

A New Jersey Republican committeeman is seeking to throw out his daughter's absentee ballot after she voted for his Democratic opponent, a report says.

Tom Baio, a Mendham Township committeeman, lost his re-election bid to his Democratic challenger Lauren Spirig by three votes, according to the Observer-Tribune. 

Morris County Republicans said in a statement Thursday that they plan to file a lawsuit contesting the results, alleging that several young Democrats who cast vote-by-mail ballots did not meet the state residency requirement, per the paper.

Baio told the paper that among those is his daughter, Ariana Baio, who he said voted for the Democratic candidate. 

The Republican expressed regret that he and his wife had mailed the ballot to their daughter, who is a journalist based in New York City,

"Like many parents driven by a sense of duty, we were wrong to advance the VBM [vote-by-mail ballot] to my daughter, Ariana," he said. "My daughter did answer the call of duty and did vote by the mail-in ballot."

"We all need to correct this behavior," he said. "As parents, and as citizens of towns as great as Mendham, I call on all Mendham residents next year to heed this example. As shameful as it is, we need to correct this behavior. I know I will."

In the statement from Morris County Republicans, Committee Chair Laura Ali said there was "at least one provisional ballot filed by a Republican voter that was questionably rejected," which she said could not be reconsidered due to recount rules.

She also identified "a large and growing number of vote-by-mail ballots filed by Democrat voters who do not appear to meet the residency requirement for voting in Mendham Township."

While she did not mention Baio's daughter in the statement, she said in an email to the Observer-Tribune: "Tom's daughter is a Democrat and voted the Democrat ticket. We had nothing to do with her vote."

The statement did, however, claim that one young voter who, it is alleged, did not appear to meet the residency requirement was the daughter of Morris County Democratic Chair and Mendham Township Committeewoman Amalia Duarte.

The statement claimed that Duarte's adult daughter voted despite living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Duarte, told the paper that Republicans singling out her daughter was "deeply disappointing" and called on Baio to concede his loss.

"We've never had a recount in a Mendham Township election, let alone this type of divisiveness," she said. "Local and county Republican operatives are trying to pit neighbor against neighbor."

Baio initially lost the election by two votes, and a recount, in fact, increased that margin by another vote, according to the paper.

Voter registration law in New Jersey requires residents to be US citizens that are at least 18 years old and live in a county for at least 30 days before the election.