INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: Electoral Issues

  • Ready, Set, Elect! The New Jersey 2019 Election Schedule

    Contributed by Paige Barnett.

    The schedule for preparing the New Jersey primaries is in full swing.  Here are two very important dates to remember; Tuesday June 4th is the New Jersey Primary Election and Tuesday November 5th is the General Election. So what’s been happening?  

    Thus far, in the month of January, New Jersey saw the nominations to the County Board of Elections. In February, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:31-2, counties had to submit an “Evening Voter Registration Plan”  by County Commissioners of Registration to the Secretary of State. The month of March is when the Governor commissions the Election Boards and they begin to organize. This is also when the deadline must be met for creating, abolishing, dividing or consolidating an election district.  Also, the County Commissioner of Registration must publish the Notice of Requirements to Vote in a Primary Election. The Secretary of State must also submit a notice to the County Clerks and County Boards of Election of available offices and any public questions for the upcoming general election.  April 1st is the filing deadline for the Nomination Petition of any individual wishing to run for an office in the primary election. There are a host of other deadlines such as, objections to nominating petitions (April 5th), publication notice of Mail-in Ballot availability for the primary election (April 9th), the deadline for the preparation of official primary election ballot for printing (April 15th), and commencement of mailing of mail-in ballots for primary election (April 20th).  

    Upcoming dates of importance to the voter:

    • May 14th deadline for voter registration.  
    • May 28th deadline to apply for a mail-in-ballot for the Primary Election.
    • May 29th – sample ballots mailed
    • June 3rd by 3:00 p.m. deadline for in-person mail-in ballot applications for Primary Election
    • June 4th deadline for post office receipt of mail-in ballots from the Primary Election

    Who’s Running for What?  New Jersey General Assembly

    The entire New Jersey General Assembly is up for election this year. Each legislative district will select two candidates to represent them in the state Assembly. Candidates running for Assembly in the primary from Districts 15 and 16, which cover  include:

    Democrat Republican
    District 15
    District 16

    Notes: (i) denotes the incumbent.

    For Reference: Municipalities in NJ Legislative District 15 and 16

    • District 15 – (Hunterdon and Mercer)  East Amwell, Ewing, Hopewell Borough (Mercer), Hopewell Township (Mercer), Lambertville, Lawrence (Mercer), Pennington,Trenton, West Amwell, West Windsor
    • District 16 – (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)  Branchburg, Delaware, Flemington, Hillsborough, Manville, Millstone (Somerset), Montgomery, Princeton,Raritan (Hunterdon), Readington, Rocky Hill, Somerville, South Brunswick, Stockton

    For the full list of all New Jersey candidates running for state General Assembly office in the primaries, please go to this link

    Hunterdon County Offices – Freeholder and Sheriff

    The following have filed to run for Hunterdon County offices in 2019:

    Democrat Republican
    County Sheriff
    • Dominick Puzio
    County Freeholder
    • Savet Rosenblum
    • Natalie Ferry

    Local Municipal Races

    There are several local races in towns throughout Hunterdon this year. For a full list of candidates, please visit the following links:

    For those interested in running for a local office, here is a link to the Hunterdon County Clerk’s Office  with some useful information.  

    Interested in being a poll worker?  Click here

  • Just the Facts

    Contributed by Olga Vanucci.

    Primary voter turnout in New Jersey in 2017:   15%

    Primary voter turnout in Hunterdon County, NJ, in 2017:   30%

    Primary voter turnout in Pennsylvania in 2017: 16%

    Primary voter turnout in Bucks County, PA, in 2017:   12%

    Sources:  

    https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2017-results/2017-official-primary-voter-turnout.pdf

    and

    https://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/2017-primary-election-roundup-Philadelphia-Pennsylvania.html

    and

    http://www.buckscounty.org/government/CommunityServices/BoardofElections/VoterCounts

  • Just the Facts

    Contributed by Olga Vanucci.

    On the subject of bail…

    • California is the first state in the nation to abolish bail for suspects awaiting trial.  It can be done…
    • In its first year, New Jersey’s criminal justice system overhaul reduced the number of people charged with minor crimes that were locked up until trial because they couldn’t post bail by 20 percent.
    • In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner announced that his office would no longer seek monetary bails for a slew of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.
    • Pennsylvania lags behind other states in its approach to bail. It was given a D grade last year from the Pretrial Justice Institute.
    • Only 10% of people in a St. Louis Public Defender’s study were able to post their own bond immediately and without assistance.

    Retaining or restoring voting rights …

    • Maine and Vermont are the only 2 states that retain voting rights for those in prison for a felony conviction.  It can be done…
    • In Pennsylvania, voting rights are restored automatically when a person leaves prison, while the person may still be on parole or probation.  
    • In New Jersey, voting rights are only restored once a person is no longer on parole or probation, and the person must re-register to vote.  
    • New Jersey denies the right to vote to nearly 100,000 people because of a conviction.  And although black people make up 15% of New Jersey’s overall population, they represent more than half of those who have lost their voting rights as the result of a criminal conviction.
    • 4,537,100 people were on parole or probation in the U.S. in 2016.

    Sources:

  • H.R.1 – The Opening Act for the 2019 House of Representatives

    Contributed by Hui Chen.

    The first act of the newly Democrat-controlled House is to give power back to the people and bring ethics back into our government. H.R. 1 – the For the People Act – covers three main areas of reform:

    • Campaign Finance: requiring disclosure of information such as “dark money” and super PAC political donors, of political spending by those who do business with the federal government, of sources for political ads on Facebook and Twitter. It would also provide a matching-fund program for House candidates who agree to raise only small-dollar contributions.
    • Ethics: requiring disclosure of tax returns for candidates for president and vice president – and current holder of those offices; enhance oversight and enforcement power of the Office of Government Ethics; strengthen ethics in the legislative branch by prohibiting members of Congress from using taxpayer money to settle harassment and discrimination cases, and in the judicial branch by creating a new code of ethics for the United States Supreme Court.
    • Voting Rights: creating an automatic voter registration system to change voting from an opt in to an opt out process, promoting early voting, same-day, same-day voter registration, and online voter registration.  It would enhance election security against foreign interference, and end gerrymandering by moving the Congressional districting power from state legislature to independent commissions.


    How would these proposed measures help our democracy?
    Campaign finance reforms helps make our elected officials answer to us as much as they answer to big money. Running for office is a very expensive endeavor. Everything from signs to brochures to television ads and campaign events costs. It’s a reality that creates continuous pressure for those in office to feel beholden to their financiers. The disclosures proposed by H.R.1 would give us transparency to those relationships so that our officials know we would be watching them. The public matching fund for small donations will also shift more power to individual donors like us.

    Government ethics fights corruption and makes sure no one is above the law. Federal government workers, like all other professionals, must abide by strict ethics rules. These rules are there to ensure they conduct government business without the conflict of interest: that laws and regulations are enforced, and contracts and projects awarded, not for their personal benefits or pleasure, but in the interest of the public. The proposed measures under H.R.1 would apply at least some of these rules to elected officials, and to Supreme Court justices.
    Voting rights helps every voter be counted. Our entire democracy is premised on people’s ability to vote. Over the last election, we worked hard for every vote. The proposed measures under H.R. are to make sure every voter gets the best chance to exercise that vote, and that when those votes are counted, they are free from manipulation.


    Call to Action: What can you do to support H.R.1?
    H.R.1 is a large package, and pieces of it are now going into various House committees for deliberation. Find the topics that speaks to you and which committees will be addressing them. Learn the issues, talk to your network, and express your support on social media, in public, and to your representatives. Remember, the overall message of this bill is about democracy and ethics.

    Hui Chen is a member of ILNH and a former prosecutor and expert consultant with the US Department of Justice who publicly resigned due to concerns about ethics in the Trump Administration. As an expert in organizational ethics, she is a regular columnist in Bloomberg Law and commentator on MSNBC. Twitter @HuiChenEthics.

  • The Blue Wave Election Re-Cap and Update

    Contributed by Paige Barnett.

    The midterm elections were, to say the least, a real humdinger — a nail biter. They quite literally kept us on the edge of our seats.  “What ifs” come to mind: What if all the canvassing didn’t work? What if people didn’t get their postcards? What if people don’t care?  What if we don’t flip the House? What if? But…YOU DID IT! YOU REALLY DID IT! Door by door, post card by post card, voter by voter — you built the Blue Wave.  YOU showed up and YOU made it happen.

    So, how did it all go down on election night?  Initially, early returns on the night of November 6th seemed to indicate Democrats may have only gained a high tide, at best.  But then, one by one, as an increasing number of precincts reported, more blue ripples and streaks started turning up. Then – just like that, the Blue Wave surfaced with a might and glory that had not been seen in over 30 years.

    In New Jersey, only one Congressional District in the entire state remained red when all votes were counted. Tom Malinowski unseated Leonard Lance in District 7. Mikie Sherrill filled a seat in the 11th District that had been held by Republicans for more than 30 years. And, after an eight-day delay in a very tight race, Andy Kim unseated incumbent Tom MacArthur in District 3. And, Senator Bob Menendez clinched his bid for re-election, besting former pharma exec and Trump supporter, Bob Hugin.

    In Pennsylvania, the U.S. Senate seat was held by Bob Casey, and Tom Wolf won re-election for governor. Overall in the keystone state, Democrats held the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th and 18th districts and flipped the 5th, 6th, 7th and 17th districts for the House.¹

    We were saddened by some losses in hard-fought races, however.  Scott Wallace failed to unseat incumbent Brian Fitzpatrick for House of Representatives in Pennsylvania Congressional District 1.  While Helen Tai was successful in her bid in the May special election for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, she was unseated by Wendi Thomas for PA District 178 House of Representatives.  

    The governor’s races in Georgia and Florida were unfortunate losses for Democrats.  In a speech, Stacey Abrams refused to concede and called out the purging of the state’s voter rolls and suppression largely aimed at African-Americans.  Abrams has since filed a federal lawsuit.³ The Florida governor’s race found Andrew Gillum conceding 11 days after the election to the Republican candidate, Ron DeSantis.

    More recent election calls included Senate races in Florida and Arizona.  Republicans flipped the Florida seat, installing former governor Rick Scott, but Democrats flipped the Arizona seat by electing the first openly bi-sexual woman, Kyrsten Sinema.  The final Senate race was determined in a runoff MIssissippi on Nov. 27, with the Republican incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, holding her seat against her challenger Mike Espy, Democrat.  In addition, delayed election results saw more Blue waves roll in with six House seats gained in California and one each in New York, Maine and Utah.⁴ In total, the Blue Wave secured 40 seats for Democratic legislators.

    It’s important to note that even where Democrats lost, the margin of victory in traditionally Red states and districts was significantly narrower than previous elections. Further, the election smashed records for expanding representation from broader demographics, with most running on the Democratic ticket. For the first time, elected officials are looking more like the rest of America with:

    • The first Muslim women to run and be elected are Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashid Talib (D-MI).  
    • The first Native American women elected are Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sharice Davids (D-KS).  Davids is also the first openly gay woman to be elected to congress.
    • Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is the first African American woman elected to Congress from her state.  
    • Jared Polis (D-CO) is the first openly gay and first Jewish man elected governor of his state.  
    • Chris Pappas (D-NH) is the first openly gay man elected to Congress for his state.  
    • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is the youngest woman elected to U.S. Congress.  
    • Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is the first female Senator to represent her state.
    • Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) is the first Latino female governor of New Mexico.  
    • Janet Mills (D-ME) is the first female governor of Maine.   
    • 107 women ran and won seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.⁶  

    To summarize, the hard work done by the Blue Wave saw the Democrats gain control of the House and flip seven governorships. Democrats saw a net gain in six state trifectas, meaning they control the state’s governorship, state senate and state house.  Currently, Democrats hold 14 state trifectas while Republicans still hold 23 and 13 states remain divided.⁵

    As a whole, the Blue Wave moved the entire country to the left. 317 out of 435 Congressional districts (73%) were more blue on Election Day than they were in 2016.  That is an amazing feat! Never underestimate the power of the people.

    That is progress.