To the editor:
Independent voters are coming together in New Jersey to play a role in the mid-term elections, but it's not the role we are usually cast in by the media as “swing voters.” Instead, on primary day, June 3, we’ll be working to be visible at a time when we are most invisible.
Independent voters are coming together in New Jersey to play a role in the mid-term elections, but it's not the role we are usually cast in by the media as “swing voters.” Instead, on primary day, June 3, we’ll be working to be visible at a time when we are most invisible.
Primary elections are a critical juncture in the democratic process. They are often the most competitive. But in NJ, independents who are 47% of registered voters, are forced to join a party in order to vote.
This is the independent’s plight: we are first class taxpayers when it comes to funding the administration of elections – but second class voters. When put in these straightforward terms, the anti-democratic nature of our democracy is hard to miss.
Recently, a lawsuit was brought in U.S. Federal Court in Newark on behalf of eight NJ voters, IndependentVoting.org and the Independent Voter Project. The suit is demanding that every voter should have an equal and meaningful vote at every stage of the state-funded election process. We are watching the case closely.
On primary day, independents across New Jersey will be making ourselves seen and heard in new ways. We will be holding informational pickets, calling on state legislators, writing letters, getting signatures, and bringing attention to this flaw in our elections process.
A change is clearly needed – so that the voices of millions of independent voters who do not now have full voting rights can be heard. We hope to lead the way to a government less hampered by partisanship and more able to move ahead with the business of the country.
Nabil Akbar, Evesham TownshipMark Balsam, North Bergen
Jaime Burke, Rutherford
Raymond Davis, Little Egg Harbor Township
Rebecca Feldman, Morristown
Michael Grossberg, Woodbridge
Mary Johnson, Westfield
Queneke King, Trenton
Jaime Martinez, Jersey City
Monique Mazur, Mount Laurel
Evelyn Motley, Orange
Veronica Osorio, Newark
Damion Oliver, Old Bridge
Carolyn Ring, Basking Ridge
Wilbur Kelvin Slade, Montclair
Kimberly Thatcher , Annandale
Tia Williams, Jersey City
Bruce Whaley, Teaneck
Jaime Burke, Rutherford
Raymond Davis, Little Egg Harbor Township
Rebecca Feldman, Morristown
Michael Grossberg, Woodbridge
Mary Johnson, Westfield
Queneke King, Trenton
Jaime Martinez, Jersey City
Monique Mazur, Mount Laurel
Evelyn Motley, Orange
Veronica Osorio, Newark
Damion Oliver, Old Bridge
Carolyn Ring, Basking Ridge
Wilbur Kelvin Slade, Montclair
Kimberly Thatcher , Annandale
Tia Williams, Jersey City
Bruce Whaley, Teaneck
