Ben Swann: NJ Voters Locked out of Process They're Forced to Pay For

Published: 21 May, 2014
1 min read

In a recent video, independent investigative journalist Ben Swann followed up with his Truth in Media coverage of the EndPartisanship.org coalition and the lawsuit it filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of partisan primaries in New Jersey with a report on recent claims by New Jersey Secretary of State Kim Guadagno and Attorney General John J. Hoffman that the coalition has no standing because voters do not have a right to vote in primary elections.

Hoffman, on behalf of the secretary of state's office, filed a motion on May 9 to dismiss the legal complaint filed by the EndPartisanship.org coalition, including New Jersey voters who are either denied access to primary elections because of their independent status or joined a major party just so they can have full participation in the public election process. Guadagno, who is the chief administrator of elections in New Jersey, argues that while voters not affiliated with either major party have no right to participate in primary elections, they have an obligation to pay for them. Further, the plaintiffs in the case do not have standing on the public funding claim because it is a "generally available grievance about government."

Essentially, what the motion argues is that because the state takes money from millions of New Jersey residents, it is not really harming anyone so there is no damage to any one person. It is just a general claim. Yet, the state is taking money from millions of voters and then locks them out of a pivotal stage in the election process.

Read all motions and court filings in the New Jersey lawsuit on the Independent Voter Project's website.

In this article

You Might Also Like

Missouri gerrymander
Missouri’s Gerrymander Faces a Citizen Veto, but State Officials Aren't Taking 'No' for an Answer
People Not Politicians (PNP) submitted over 305,000 signatures last week to freeze a congressional gerrymander passed by the Missouri Legislature in September. However, state officials are doing everything they can to pretend this citizen revolt isn’t happening....
19 Dec, 2025
-
12 min read
Trump mad over Indiana gerrymander decision.
Trump Big Mad that Indiana Republicans Won’t Fight His Gerrymandering War
Things looked like they could get even more chaotic this week in the mid-cycle gerrymandering arms race between the two major parties as the Indiana Senate took up a new congressional map to give Republicans an even greater electoral advantage in the state. But Indiana Senate Republicans this week put their foot down and declared that they want no part in this race to the bottom....
12 Dec, 2025
-
13 min read
Andy Moore
Nonpartisan Reformers Unite: NANR Summit Charts Bold Path for Election Reform in 2026
The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR) held its 9th annual summit in Miami this week following a year of political chaos and partisan machinations that put power before representation, accountability, and fairness....
05 Dec, 2025
-
12 min read
Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy (IMD) has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting ever conducted. The 66-page report analyzes nearly 4,000 real-world ranked ballot elections, including some 2,000 political elections, and more than 60 million simulated ones to test how different voting methods perform....
11 Dec, 2025
-
4 min read
California flag
Quirk Silva’s Exit Sparks a High-Profile Orange County Clash, Where Independent Voters Control the Math
California’s 67th Assembly District stretches across parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, connecting some of the region’s most dynamic and diverse suburban communities. It includes the entire cities of Cerritos, La Palma, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Buena Park, and Cypress, as well as portions of Fullerton and Anaheim....
18 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Donald Trump
Trump Signs Order to Reclassify Cannabis to Schedule III
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will officially move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, a decision that marks the most significant change to U.S. drug policy since the early 1970s....
18 Dec, 2025
-
2 min read