According to former township attorney Martin Cramer, whom the two women have retained as council, the incident began at about 10 a.m. when Keith Carbone, a New Milford resident, entered the polling place asking to look at the voting machine to determine how many votes had been cast.

Carbone claimed to be a challenger for the Bergen County Democratic Organization, but Cramer said he showed no identification to his clients, who refused to allow him access to the machines.

Legally designated challengers are permitted to check the tallies on voting machines under specified conditions.

Carbone left the polling place but returned almost immediately with Councilman Elnatan Rudolph, who was running for reelection. Rudolph also requested to see the  vote count.

"As per their training from the board of elections, the poll workers informed Rudolph that he could not receive a vote count and referred him to the official election guide book on display," Cramer wrote in a press release.  "Candidate Rudolph became enraged and abusive and placed call using his cell phone within the polling site…in violation of the law. Mrs. Shumpert informed him that the use of electronic devices was not allowed within the polling site, but Rudolph refused to comply, becoming loud and abusive. Since he was in violation of the board of election policy, candidate Rudolph was asked to leave the Bryant School site by the poll workers."

Shortly after, DeBari, and fellow board of elections commissioner Charles K. Zisa, who is the Hackensack Police Chief, arrived at the polling place, apparently responding to Rudolph's cell phone calls.

DeBari was observed in heated discussion with the two poll workers.

"Commissioner DeBari informed the poll workers that despite their previous training, future training would allow candidates to request vote counts intraday. DeBari further threatened that if Mrs. Grossman and Mrs. Shumpert did not comply to her undocumented request, she would fire both," Cramer wrote.

Councilwoman-elect Barbara Toffler, who witnessed the confrontation between DeBari and the poll workers was not present when Carbone and Rudolph attempted to see the vote count, said that it was unethical and possibly illegal for the Bergen County Democratic Organization to have challengers in a non-partisan election.

"There is no reason for them to challenge; there are no republicans or democrats," Toffler said.

She said that candidates are permitted to have two challengers per election district who are authorized to be at the polling places only at specified times.

Toffler said she spoke to DeBari at the polling place who said that the poll workers had "talked back and that it was not their job to talk back."

DeBari fired the two women the following day.

In a letter to Shumpert dated May 14, DeBari wrote that, "There have been numerous complaints from the borough clerk regarding your actions and attitude and your conduct to me on Election Day only confirmed that there are legitimate reasons for your dismissal."

In a letter to the four commissioners, Cramer said that the firing of the workers is in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act because the women were fired without a meeting of the election board. Cramer mentioned that one member of the board does not have the authority to fire poll workers.

In addition, Cramer said that Zisa, who is reported to have voted as a commissioner in a retroactive meeting apparently confirming DeBari’s action, "is, in fact, not a commissioner."

Cramer  cited a New Jersey Statute 19:6-17 which states that "The office of member of the county board shall be deemed vacant upon such a member becoming a candidate for an office to be voted upon at any…election."  Zisa became a candidate for state assembly when he filed forms on Oct. 15, 2007, Cramer said.

In a press conference on Friday at Shumpert’s Van Buskirk Avenue home, Cramer said that he is suing under both state and federal law.

Shumpert and Grossman said they are paid only $200 a day as poll workers but are suing and paying Cramer’s standard hourly fee because they were unfairly fired after many years service to the community.

In a letter to DeBari, Mayor Elie Y. Katz urged her to reinstate the poll workers.

"Sometimes in the heat of the moment, people say and do things that they otherwise might not," Katz wrote. "Teaneck has just completed a very heated and highly contested election and on all sides there were items and issues that could have been done better or differently. To avoid the continuation of the contentiousness of the late election and in the interest of genuine community peace and unity, I respectfully request that it would be prudent to restore these two long time, dedicated poll workers back onto the list of eligible election workers."

DeBari did not return a phone message seeking comment. Rudolph did not return two messages.