Robert Kugler, an independent candidate for Bergen County sheriff, sued the county clerk’s office Friday to stop what he claims is an illegal election tainted by confusion and bias.

But John Hogan, the county clerk, said Sunday that he has followed the letter of the law throughout the truncated process, which began a little more than a month ago after the abrupt resignation of former Sheriff Michael Saudino.

In the lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Hackensack, Kugler claims the election shouldn't be happening at all — saying that because Saudino officially resigned within 37 days of the next election, state law says Gov. Phil Murphy must temporarily fill the sheriff's position with another Democrat.

The suit also alleges that Hogan violated state law by failing to give notice of the public drawing for the ballot order, and has created confusion and bias by putting an unnecessary gap between candidates' names on the supplemental ballot mailed to residents.

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LISTEN:Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino's offensive remarks on tape

"There's been some irregularities from the beginning," Kugler, also the Saddle Brook police chief, said in a Sunday interview. "The process was not followed ... it's just flawed on all levels of government from Day One."

Hogan said he had not seen the lawsuit, but he disputed each of Kugler's claims. The county is holding the election on direct orders from the state, the public drawing was properly announced and he built the ballot in accordance with past practice and the law, Hogan said.

"If we are served, we'll defend it vigorously," Hogan said.

No court date has been set, though Kugler hopes it will be heard as soon as possible.

It is unclear what effect the lawsuit will have on the Nov. 6 sheriff’s election, as the state has already rejected one of its central tenets: that Saudino did not resign when the Sheriff's Office announced it on Sept. 21.

Saudino himself tried to delay his resignation and scuttle the election by sending a letter to Tahesha Way, the New Jersey secretary of state, claiming he had only taken the week off and planned to work until Oct. 5.

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The move would have given Murphy the power to appoint his successor. But Way refused the letter, saying it had no legal effect because a notice of resignation was already filed with her office.

"The position of the Bergen County Sheriff has been vacant since September 21 and remains vacant," Way wrote in her reply.

Both the Attorney General's Office and a Murphy spokesman declined to comment Sunday. A spokesperson for the state department did not respond to a request for comment.

The scramble for the Sheriff's Office was set off by the publication of a recording on which Saudino, a 46-year law enforcement veteran, made racist and homophobic comments during a January meeting.

On the tape, Saudino mentioned Murphy’s proposal to legalize marijuana and said it would “let the blacks come in, do whatever the [expletive] they want, smoke their marijuana, do this do that, and don't worry about it. You know, we'll tie the hands of cops."

He also said on the recording that Gurbir Grewal, the nation's first Sikh state attorney general, got his job only "because of the turban" and wondered aloud whether Sheila Oliver, the lieutenant governor, is gay because she has not been married.

Fierce criticism poured in, and Saudino resigned the next day, along with four of his undersheriffs.

Five candidates are now running to replace him: Democrat Anthony Cureton, Republican Jack DeLorenzo, and independents James Ahearn, Rob Tormo and Kugler.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com