Dear Friends,
This morning, I appeared in court to receive a final ruling on issues that came up at the beginning of the primary process. One issue was the issue of bracketing, which Dan Damon wrote about in his blog. The New Democrats for Plainfield wanted to be bracketed to run with some other reform candidates, so there was a hearing with Judge William Wertheimer, who presided.
The other issue had to do with making sure that the petitions filed by all candidates for Plainfield Mayor (myself included!) met the legal requirements set forth by New Jersey election law statutes. As you all know, the petition process is designed so that voters can be assured that the candidates running for an election adhere to the same democratic process and to ensure fairness for all. In addition, the process of getting valid signatures is meant to ensure that no legal voter is disenfranchised.
After the City Clerk received the signed petitions, she notified the candidates regarding all deadlines relating to the ballot, letting us know that if we had questions or concerns about any of the signatures of voters and others who signed the petitions, we had note them and get them to her so that she could check them.
I went over the petitions of my opponents, just as I am sure they went over mine, and I submitted some challenges. It is the Clerk's responsibility to respond to petition questions from the candidates. After her review, the Clerk upheld some my challenges, as some registered Republicans had signed some of the pink-colored Democratic petitions given to them by candidates (the Republican petitions are blue), and there were a few unregistered voters who had signed in error. For the other challenges, the Clerks said said that a judge would have to make a final ruling if there were still questions.
One question that I had was whether unaffiliated (also known as Non-Partisan) voters could sign partisan petitions to run for City Committee and to be counted as valid on a partisan primary petition; the Clerk had indicated to me that unaffiliated voters had to sign a party affiliation form and attach it to the petition. One of our city committee candidates did this, per the Clerk’s advice. Later, the Clerk noted that by signing a partisan petition (Democratic or Republican Party), the voter was declaring his or her party affiliation, per New Jersey election statutes. I am glad that this was clarified.
Another clarification we needed had to do with petitioners who had neglected to sign their names, per the Clerk's instructions, as well as some whose signatures appeared similar. Although Judge Wertheimer noted some of the similarities and expressed his own concerns about the handwriting on a couple of petitions, he stipulated that, as he was not a handwriting expert, and no handwriting expert was present in court, he would accept the oaths signed by and sworn to by the candidates.
A final issue that came up is one of grave concern to me. When one of the other candidates spoke to the judge, he rightly noted that some of the County Clerk’s lists were outdated, as one of his family members (who IS registered) was listed as “not a registered voter” by the City Clerk. Now, I have known this candidate and his family for over twenty years. He has been an elected official and he and his family are longtime residents of Plainfield, so I found it difficult to believe that a family member of his would be unregistered.
Because of the outdated lists, however, there is a danger that other Plainfield voters, like the voter mentioned above, will now have to get their names reregistered with the Clerk. The lists need to be updated so that this mistake doesn’t happen in the future. We want to make sure that no voter is disenfranchised.
I am glad that we received these rulings by Judge Wertheimer, as all of us running for elective office can feel secure knowing that these two rulings are final. With that said, I look forward to a vigorous and challenging campaign season!
One question that I had was whether unaffiliated (also known as Non-Partisan) voters could sign partisan petitions to run for City Committee and to be counted as valid on a partisan primary petition; the Clerk had indicated to me that unaffiliated voters had to sign a party affiliation form and attach it to the petition. One of our city committee candidates did this, per the Clerk’s advice. Later, the Clerk noted that by signing a partisan petition (Democratic or Republican Party), the voter was declaring his or her party affiliation, per New Jersey election statutes. I am glad that this was clarified.
Another clarification we needed had to do with petitioners who had neglected to sign their names, per the Clerk's instructions, as well as some whose signatures appeared similar. Although Judge Wertheimer noted some of the similarities and expressed his own concerns about the handwriting on a couple of petitions, he stipulated that, as he was not a handwriting expert, and no handwriting expert was present in court, he would accept the oaths signed by and sworn to by the candidates.
A final issue that came up is one of grave concern to me. When one of the other candidates spoke to the judge, he rightly noted that some of the County Clerk’s lists were outdated, as one of his family members (who IS registered) was listed as “not a registered voter” by the City Clerk. Now, I have known this candidate and his family for over twenty years. He has been an elected official and he and his family are longtime residents of Plainfield, so I found it difficult to believe that a family member of his would be unregistered.
Because of the outdated lists, however, there is a danger that other Plainfield voters, like the voter mentioned above, will now have to get their names reregistered with the Clerk. The lists need to be updated so that this mistake doesn’t happen in the future. We want to make sure that no voter is disenfranchised.
I am glad that we received these rulings by Judge Wertheimer, as all of us running for elective office can feel secure knowing that these two rulings are final. With that said, I look forward to a vigorous and challenging campaign season!
New Democrats for Plainfield
COLUMN F
Leadership for Plainfield's
FUTURE!
Regards,
Adrian
No comments:
Post a Comment