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

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.

Photo Credit: Halifax Media Group