NJ Attorney General: If You Want a Meaningful Vote, Join a Party

image
Created: 29 Jul, 2014
Updated: 15 Oct, 2022
1 min read
(Newark, N.J.) — In May, New Jersey Secretary of State Kim Guadagno

onetwothree.v2filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed to defend the individual voting rights of New Jersey voters, regardless of their party affiliation, including the 47 percent of New Jersey voters who have chosen not to affiliate with a party at all.

The plaintiffs argue that New Jersey’s closed partisan primary system violates an individual's right to vote because: (1) the primary conditions a voter's right to participate on giving up their right to not join a private political party, (2) the partisan primary effectively dilutes the voting power of non-party voters, and (3) the system violates New Jersey’s own constitutional prohibition against the private use of taxpayer funds.

On July 28, New Jersey Secretary of State Kim Guadagno submitted a reply on behalf of New Jersey. The State argues:

“...a voter who feels disenfranchised because of a regulation that conditions participation in primary elections on party membership ‘should simply join the party.’” p. 4-5

“Thus, the relief plaintiffs seek here... would, if granted, contravene these precedents and uproot one of the hallmarks of our electoral system, the partisan primary...” p. 2

“[No courts] have recognized that unaffiliated voters have a fundamental right to participate in primary elections even when those elections are an integral part of the electoral process.” p. 2

Read the Complaint:

Read the Motion to Dismiss:

Read the Plaintiff’s Reply to the Motion to Dismiss:

Read the Response to the Plaintiff’s Reply:

Photo retrieved from CNN.com.

Latest articles

Crowd of people with an American flag in the center.
'It's The Economy, Stupid': Poll Spotlights Biggest Area of Common Ground among Voters
Over the last week, The Independent Center released the second and third installments to its 2025 State of the Union Poll, one of which compared and contrasted the views of independent voters and Republicans and the other compared independents and Democrats....
05 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers and elected officials are increasingly manipulating the ballot initiative process to block or impede citizen-led efforts. ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
Go vote posters.
Virginia Senate Advances Bill to Expand Ranked Choice Voting in Local Elections
The Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would expand the authority of local governments to conduct elections using ranked choice voting (RCV). The bill (SB1009) grants cities, counties, and towns the ability to implement RCV for all elections....
04 Feb, 2025
-
2 min read