Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill casts her early-voting ballot in Princeton Sunday afternoon, vowing to ensure secure elections in the face of attempts to undermine voting. Photo by Aidan Vanhoof/NJ State House News Service.
By Ryan Conway
NJ State House News Service
With Garden State Democrats and Republicans both failing to pass their own distinct “election integrity” measures in Trenton recently, lawmakers are nervously waiting and watching Election Day voting booths and results.
“As we look at any attempts to undermine our democratic elections in New Jersey this cycle, we will be taking action to make them even more secure,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill told reporters outside the Princeton Municipal Complex on Sunday after casting her ballot.
However, the two parties have very different interpretations of what “election integrity” means.
Many Democrats nationwide have expressed concerns that Republicans could use ICE to try and intimidate voters at polling stations during the pivotal midterm election. President Donald Trump and other members of his administration had flirted with the idea earlier this year.
Late last month, Trenton Democrats attempted to bull rush last-minute legislation that would have addressed those fears by introducing the “Election Integrity and Voter Protection Act.” Under current New Jersey law, state and local law enforcement agencies are barred from being within 100 feet of a polling station. This bill would have extended those restrictions to federal law enforcement, U.S. military and the National Guard.
Democrats were so hellbent to get S4863 signed before the Nov. 3 election that Senate President Nick Scutari, a Democrat from Linden, planned on bringing the bill straight to the Senate floor on Oct. 22, less than two weeks before Election Day. He hoped to skip a committee hearing in an extremely unusual move.
However, a member from Sherrill’s office called Scutari to pull the bill over concerns regarding constitutionality, essentially killing the bill for now.
In a press conference in Princeton on Sunday, the Sherrill confirmed that her team had called to nix the bill, but assured voters that the state’s elections would be safe and secure.
“As you can imagine, I’m very concerned about issues of constitutionality,” Sherrill told reporters outside the Princeton Municipal Complex. “I’ve already met with the Election Protection Effort – it involves people from the Secretary of State’s office, the [Attorney General’s] Office – it’s a very mature process we’ve had in place for years now. They are assessing what’s going on not just here in New Jersey, but some attacks on our election system that we are seeing across the country.”
Assembly Member Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, a Democrat from Trenton, who sponsored an identical measure in the Assembly, suggested that lawmakers may want to revise the bill and bring it back to the floor for next year’s elections, where General Assembly seats will be up for grabs.
On the other hand, Republicans in Congress have tried to target Sherrill over non-citizen voter registrations.
In October, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Sherrill’s administration, accusing the state of failing to send over documents and correct an error regarding New Jersey’s voter rolls. This effort is being led by a few House Republicans, one of them being U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a South Jersey Republican, who is facing re-election this November.
Sherrill slammed Republicans, saying they were “choosing to play political games” rather than addressing the “skyrocketing prices” that she says they’ve caused.
Assembly Member Paul Kanitra, a Republican from Point Pleasant Beach, tried his own Hail Mary on the Assembly floor last week that would have required mail-in voters to additionally attach a copy of their ID along with their ballot in future elections. The measure, A317, was quickly tabled by a vote of 42-23, with Democrats refusing to weigh the matter.
Kanitra accused Assembly Democrats of prioritizing their party over voter integrity.
“A vote for this bill is a vote to protect voters. Anyone in this chamber who would rise to table such a common sense and bipartisan measure would frankly be putting their party’s politics over the needs and wants of 82% of New Jerseyans,” Kanitra said on the Assembly floor, referencing a recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll which found that New Jerseyans largely favor providing ID for in-person voting.
The Secretary of State is in charge of elections in New Jersey. Shirley Emehelu is currently serving on an interim tag, after former Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, who was previously holding that role, resigned last month over workplace sexual harassment allegations, which he denied.
Emehelu pledged in an introductory press conference last month that elections would not be impacted by Caldwell’s resignation and that the state would work very hard to keep elections secure.
“I want all New Jerseyans to have confidence in the elections and the officials tasked with administering them,” Emehelu said. “For months, the Department of State team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming elections, in partnership with local and county election officials. I will make sure their work proceeds as planned.”
Polls are open Nov. 3 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Ryan Conway is a student at The College Of New Jersey, majoring journalism with a minor in communications.
