| TRENTON
– Attorney General Zulima V. Farber
today filed papers in Superior Court in
Mercer County asking the court to address
the statutory redistricting obligations
of the 21 county Boards of Elections.
New
Jersey laws require that election districts
with less than 250 votes cast in two successive
general elections be consolidated. In response
to a recent complaint by the Republican
State Committee, the Attorney General undertook
a thorough review of the state’s election
districts to determine whether there were
districts that should be consolidated under
this statutory provision.
“We
are asking the court for an order permitting
the required consolidations to occur after
the General Election so that the election
process currently underway is not disrupted,”
Attorney General Farber said. “Our
primary concern is to ensure that we do
not confuse or inhibit voters in exercising
their right to vote.”
The
Attorney General’s review discovered
that there are election districts that should
be consolidated under the law. However,
the same statute that requires redistricting
prohibits it after the 75th day before a
primary election, which this year was March
23, 2006.
Redistricting
now would call into question the validity
of the petitions filed in these elections.
Redistricting after the primary, once the
local candidates are chosen, would also
potentially confuse voters and adversely
impact the right to vote. Thus, the Attorney
General is asking the court to allow these
districts to consolidate at the earliest
feasible date after the Nov. 7 General Election.
She is also asking that a Dec. 31, 2006
deadline be set to redistrict the districts
that should be consolidated.
The
Attorney General’s review also determined
that there are other election districts
that should not be consolidated. In some
instances, consolidation would be contrary
to other statutes that require voting districts,
to the extent possible, to be contiguous
and convenient for the voters. Still other
districts comprise entire municipalities,
and thus cannot be consolidated without
creating confusion in municipal elections.
For these districts, the Attorney General
has asked the court to declare that redistricting
is not required.
>>
View
Complaint (63k pdf) plug-in
#
# #
|
