The hand to change state law to vote is a bad look for Trenton – New Jersey Monitor

These sneaky little devils in Trenton are back in it.

Legislative leaders, bruised by the loss of the county line and unable to understand an unconstitutional way to repeat it, have decided to simply put a larger obstacle to possible candidates who seek to enter the vote.

On Monday, governor Phil Murphy gave his move to shift the door to his door by signing their bill that Hikes from the number of candidates for signature of voters It must be included in the petitions needed to secure their ballot names.

Previously, a Democrat or Republican who wants to become a governor will need signatures from 1000 registered voters. Now the total is 2000. If you want to start in a primary installation, you needed 100 signatures. Now you need 250.

This is not necessarily bad. Michigan, who has a population slightly larger than New Jersey, has a much higher signature threshold than we for future candidates (15,000 to run for governor and run for a legislative place). In Virginia, which has a slightly smaller population, you need 10,000 signatures to run for a governor and between 125 and 250 signatures to apply for a legislative place. There is nothing wrong with bringing the threshold of access to New Jersey with those of other countries.

The bad is the weather. Although last week only accepted the legislature, the legislators did it effectively, starting with primeriz this June. Then the governor’s competition and all 80 meetings will be on the newsletter, among other things.

This is obscene. Some candidates have already taken the necessary petitions and have started collecting signatures – now the legislature and the governor are getting on to say that we will double your workload.

“There is a place for a bona fide debate about the requirement to access the vote, but that is not it,” says Katie Brennan, a Democrat who is looking for a meeting place in the 32nd County of Hudson. “The proposal is a transparent attempt to replace the ballot line with barriers to enter.”

Correctly. Now that party leaders do not have a county line, our unique way in New Jersey, a way to organize ballots that have given the candidate-backed candidates better accommodation for voting, they had to find some other way to limit competition.

Brian K. Everett, a Democrat that causes the existing Democrats as a meeting in the 4th region of South Jersey, is also critical of the new law, although he also does not believe the new signature requirements are too high.

“But it is another thing that then you just move forward and do it while the choice is live,” Everett said. “All these different stars are aligned where they have lost the vote of the District-line, and this is a small way to move the goals again.”

The Assembly of Bill Sponsor Lou Greenwald (D-Cadden) claims that serious candidates will have no problem getting a larger number of signatures. In an interview, Greenwald said that when the legislature adopted the bill last week, it had 54 days until the deadline for petitions, leaving enough time for the assembly hopes to collect an additional 150 signatures.

“This is less than three signatures a day. I could get six signatures during this phone call, “he told me.

Greenwald said the change would be beneficial to non-arches, hoping to win elections in the legislature, not harm their chances.

“The more people you talk, the more people you will resonate,” he said. “If you can’t get 250 signatures you don’t have to start.”

This is an honest argument. But why do the change now? Greenwald is entitled that the Petition Signature Act has not changed after 90 years – so that the quick one can make the change in the months before major elections when the petitions have already been distributed to some candidates? At one point, during our conversation, Greenwald told me that if he was not indisputable, he would simply collect any signature, the state told him to collect because “you give me the rules of the game and I play under these rules.” But what the state says to the candidates with this new law is the legislature and the governor can decide to come up with new rules even after the start of the game.