ACLU-NJ News - Elections & Voting

Tell Governor Corzine to Veto Delay of Voting Machine Accountability

Whether every vote counts in November lies in the stroke of the Governor's pen. We are counting on Governor Corzine to veto the Legislature's latest attempt to delay the installation of voter verified paper ballots. We need your help to make sure the Governor gets the message: the people of New Jersey don't want our votes lost in unreliable machines. Contact Governor Corzine now to ask him to veto S1381, the Legislature's latest attempt to delay the use of accountable machines in New Jersey, in the interest of our voting rights. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Right now, Governor Corzine has the power to decide whether to finally demand accountability in our voting machines so that every vote is counted in November. We want him to veto S1381 and thereby require that New Jersey use voting machines that we can rely on. Not having voter verified paper ballots means not having an important system for recount, which would have a devastating effect in a close election.

Instead of using paper ballots with optical scanners -- the cheaper, easier and more accurate option -- the Attorney General and Legislature have chosen more expensive touch-screen machines that have been called the worst in the country. The machines do not automatically produce a voter verified paper ballot, so the machines need to be retrofitted with expensive printers.

That's like buying a car without an engine. We say: Scrap the whole thing, before it's too late. There is a better solution. Replace our machines with paper ballots and optical scanners now, when it matters most, rather than tacking printers onto defective machines later, when the elections are over. Tell the governor not to put the cart before the horse: veto the delays of voter verified paper ballots and push for the use of paper ballots with optical scanners now.

There were serious questions in February about whether votes were lost in the poorly rated Sequoia voting machines. We don't want the same doubts to resurface in November. Call or write Governor Corzine today to make sure the voters in New Jersey can exercise their right to vote this fall. Our rights and our future hang in the balance.

Take Action!

Call Governor Corzine's office today at (609) 292-6000 to tell him to veto the delay of accountable voting machines in New Jersey. You can also e-mail him at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html. You can use the sample letter below to get you started.

Sample Letter

Dear Governor Corzine:

I am writing to urge you to veto S. 1381, a bill the Legislature passed to extend the deadline for voter verified paper ballots until January 1, 2009. The delay would compromise the integrity of votes cast across the state of New Jersey. I want to vote in November knowing my vote will matter, not wondering whether my voice was heard.

The Sequoia touch screen voting machines currently in place are faulty to begin with. The February primaries were plagued with questions over how many votes were truly counted -- questions that have gone unanswered because Sequoia refused to allow investigations into what happened. The Legislature and Attorney General want to keep the same error-ridden system and tack on printers, saying the printout will be an accurate record. But it's common sense: tax payers should not be paying huge sums of money to stick printers onto broken machines that won't be ready until after the votes have been counted.

As a voter and a tax payer, I demand the sensible and less expensive alternative: paper ballots to be read by optical scan machines. The optical scan machines are less prone to mistakes, and the paper ballots are a ready-made solution if New Jersey participates in a recount. The November election should be a close race, making paper ballots even more crucial. But the closeness of the race should not matter. To protect everyone's right to vote, everyone's vote must be rightfully counted.

You have the power to decide whether our votes should be counted or whether our votes should remain in doubt. I urge you to side with the voters of New Jersey and veto the Legislature's delays that will jeopardize our right to vote. Your veto secures our votes, and our votes secure democracy.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Address
Your City, State and ZIP

Voting Irregularities Widespread in New Jersey

Newark - New Jerseyans from across the state headed to the polls to participate in New Jersey's first Super Tuesday presidential primary, but not all citizens were able to cast ballots; among the many who reportedly experienced failures of New Jersey's voting systems was Governor Corzine himself.

"New Jersey has a host of election system problems that have curtailed democratic rights today, and in other recent elections" said Anne Barron, coordinator of the ACLU-NJ's Election Protection efforts. "In the face of numerous irregularities and problems at the polls, the state and county election offices offered little. Our calls to their hotlines went unanswered."

The ACLU-NJ and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey established a voter protection hotline for voters to speak with trained poll monitors and to request volunteer lawyers that could help challenge an election judge's denial of voting rights at the poll. Citizens reported numerous irregularities through this hotline, including:

Voters not offered provisional ballots;
Difficulty physically accessing voting site;
Machines not operable;
Emergency ballots not provided;
Numerous people registered as Democrats but listed in the statewide database as Republicans and prohibited from voting as Democrats;
County elections offices and the State AG being unreachable by phone; and
Unhelpful and untrained poll workers.

The problem of inoperable machines apparently affected Governor Corzine who reportedly could not vote at his polling place, the Hoboken Fire Department Engine Company No. 2. Two voting machines didn't work for about 45 minutes, while he and other voters were turned away. By law, these voters should have been offered the opportunity to cast an emergency ballot, but they were not. The Governor was forced to go to another polling place.

When both advocates and members of the press called the Hudson County Superintendent of Elections to ask about Gov. Corzine's experience, staff members hung up on them.

"In light of these issues, it's even more appalling that the State has restricted groups like the ACLU, the League of Women Voters and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund from providing non-partisan information and finding out if the voters had any difficulties at the polls" said Deborah Jacobs, ACLU-NJ Executive Director.

The ACLU-NJ is in court challenging Attorney General Anne Milgram's directive preventing advocates from distributing voters' rights cards within the 100-feet of the polling site.

"While we understand the need to restrict electioneering at the polls, our Voter Protection cards are well-intentioned and simply provide basic information, such as reminding citizens that they can immediately appeal to a judge if an election official does not allow them to vote," said Jacobs.

Advocates for voting rights and democracy have urged the State to address its elections failures since the passage of the Help America Vote Act. Concerns have consistently fallen on deaf ears, or been resolved in a manner that does not promote voting rights and democracy.

"Now that Governor Corzine himself has experienced the failures of New Jersey's election system, perhaps the state will take our concerns more seriously," said Jacobs. "After all, fair voting systems are like a seatbelt of democracy-they secure it."

Election Protection Effort Launched to Assist Voters in Presidential Primary

Newark, N.J. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey will provide assistance to voters as they go to the polls on February 5th to vote in New Jersey's presidential primary.

"New Jersey voters deserve an efficient and accessible election system," said Anne Barron, coordinator of the Election Protection effort. "In light of New Jersey's record of voting rights failures, poll monitoring and advocacy by outside groups is essential."

Trained poll monitors will be on hand to assist voters at many polls and provide volunteer lawyers to help voters who want to challenge denials of their voting rights in front of an election judge. Citizens experiencing problems can call VOTEline at 1-800-792-VOTE (8683).

Many citizens struggle to get even basic information about elections and voting in New Jersey. One resident recently contacted the Division of Elections to find out how an undeclared voter chooses a party at the polls, and was transferred from one official to another, receiving no answer to this simple factual question.

"The reluctance of election officials to answer questions even about voting procedures illustrates the need for advocacy on election day," said the League's President, Anne Maiese. "If we care about democracy, then we must document and analyze these problems and fight for better laws and systems to ensure integrity at the polls."

The League's VOTEline helps fill the void for the public, handling thousands of callers seeking information about voting, elections and the political process. Maiese also reports that voter interest in the Primary is high, noting that the VOTELine calls swelled appreciably after the Iowa caucuses last month, with many asking about voter registration and change of party procedures.

Unfortunately, efforts to monitor election problems continue to be hampered by the state's refusal to allow poll monitors access to poll entrances. The ACLU-NJ has sued the State over the State Attorney General's Prohibition on non-partisan, non-electioneering free speech activities within 100 feet of a polling place.

Since the 2004 elections, the ACLU-NJ has documented and analyzed a myriad of voting rights problems and provided this information and recommendations for improvement to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Problems include incomplete voter rolls, denial of language assistance, lack of sufficient provisional and emergency ballots and electronic machine problems.

ACLU-NJ Challenges Election Day Free Speech Ban

NEWARK, N.J. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today Filed a Motion (1.2mb PDF) seeking to stop the State Attorney General from enforcing her prohibition on free speech activities within 100 feet of a polling place, including handing out voter rights cards.

"Free speech and voting rights are core American values," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "The Attorney General's decision to restrict such democratic activities on Election Day goes against everything this country stands for and aspires to."

In a July 18, 2007 letter, Attorney General Anne Milgram banned all contact with voters entering polling sites and all contact, except "exit polling," with people leaving polling sites. The Attorney General's Directive (282k PDF) also requires media representatives or representatives of a public interest groups to obtain advance approval from their county Board of Elections to conduct exit polling, and also provide the Board with two weeks notice of the exact locations where exit polling will take place, and the names of each person conducting the polls.

"The Attorney General's Directive (282k PDF) goes far beyond any restriction contemplated by our state legislature, and violates citizens' freedom of speech," said Frank Corrado of Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Gibson in Wildwood, NJ, who represents the ACLU-NJ in the case. "Our state laws restrict 'electioneering' for a candidate or public question, and prohibit actions that would obstruct or interfere with voters entering or exiting polling sites, but handing out voter rights cards does not fall into any of those categories. The Attorney General has clearly exceeded her authority."

In previous elections, the ACLU-NJ, in conjunction with other public interest organizations, organized volunteers to hand out voter rights cards on election days to inform individuals of their rights at the polls. The voter rights cards provide general information and contain no mention of any individual running for office or any public question to be voted upon. Since 2005, ACLU-NJ volunteers who sought to hand out voter rights cards within 100 feet of polling sites were threatened with arrest and were forced to move over 100 feet away, where they had little access to voters. At the times these threats were made, there was no official Attorney General rule that banned the volunteers' activity.

The ACLU-NJ seeks to monitor the polls and hand out voter rights cards to voters during the February 5, 2008, primary election.

The ACLU-NJ initially challenged the Attorney General's decision by filing an appeal in court on October 1, 2007. The lawsuit claims that the Attorney General has exceeded her authority by banning activity that the legislature allows; that her directive conflicts with state laws; and that the ban on handing out voter rights cards and engaging in other non-electioneering speech activities violates the free speech protections of the New Jersey Constitution. Today's action seeks to suspend The Attorney General's Directive (282k PDF) so that free speech activities may take place on primary day.

The case is captioned In re: Attorney General Directive on Exit Polling Issued July 18, 2007.

Election Day Report Calls for Reform of Voting Systems

NEWARK, N.J. -- With citizens headed to the polls for primary elections, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey today released a report highlighting significant concerns about New Jersey's voting systems based on problems reported during the November 2006 general election, and made recommendations for changes to improve voting rights in New Jersey.

"Election Day is a time to remember that voting is the most basic right in our democratic system and one that our state government should do the utmost to protect," said Danzey Burnham, executive director for the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. "As citizens in a democracy we ought to expect a transparent and efficient election system, yet our state has much work to do to achieve that goal."

The report, "Snapshot of November 2006 Election Day Problems and Recommendations for Reform," asserts that to ensure the effective administration of elections in New Jersey, the state needs to establish systems for individual voters to complain or appeal when they encounter obstacles to exercising their voting rights. The state also needs to proactively monitor overall voting systems to assess and correct problems before they threaten the integrity and fairness of elections.

"We believe New Jerseyans deserve an election system that serves the voter," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. "We need to make up for lost time in voting rights reform in New Jersey, and call on our state and county election officials to address the problems identified by voting rights advocates."

Regrettably, as the report points out, New Jersey neither maintains public records of voter complaints nor provides post-election analysis to identify ongoing problems with the administration of elections. The state has no system to gather the information needed to monitor elections. Without systems for monitoring and analysis of election voter complaints, any state or county efforts to identify and address the most pressing voting problems becomes mere guesswork.

Advocacy groups have tried to fill the void. In connection with the November 2006 general election, the ACLU-NJ and LWVNJ, organizations with long histories of voting rights advocacy, organized a nonpartisan Voter Protection Hotline to provide immediate assistance to voters needing help.

Unlike anything offered by the state Division of Elections, the organizations had trained volunteers available to answer toll free calls from voters from 6 a.m. until after the polls closed at 8 p.m., as well as to provide support at some polling places and courts. Through this effort, coordinated with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, these nonprofit organizations responded to more than 200 calls for help and information.

Such efforts provide a snapshot of obstacles that voters encounter in New Jersey. One of the central problems identified in the ACLU-NJ/LWVNJ report is inconsistent implementation from county-to-county of existing rules. Due to the state's failure to fully implement provisions of the Help America Vote Act (passed with the intention of preventing another situation like the 2000 Florida election debacle), New Jersey voters' experiences vary widely, depending on where they are trying to vote. More than 33 percent of voters who called in or were interviewed at the polls experienced problems with the voter registration process.

Voters reported continuous and intimidating police presence at New Brunswick and Monmouth County polling sites. Unfortunately, this problem was exacerbated by the state's failure to clarify its policies on "electioneering." At some sites, police kept nonpartisan poll monitors and members of the press 100 feet from polling places, a restriction that should apply only to electioneers (campaign workers trying to influence voters' decisions before they vote). This problem was brought to Attorney General Stuart Rabner prior to the election, in September 2006, and still has not been rectified by the state.

Because New Jersey does not document and publicly report on election problems, there is no way of knowing whether the state is adequately addressing the issues identified as part of Voter Protection 2006. As with past elections, the ACLU-NJ and the LWVNJ will release their report, including suggestions for improvements to voting systems in New Jersey, to the attorney general, New Jersey's chief elections officer.

On the Net

For the report visit: Voter Protection Project 2006 Report & Recommendations