Lowest turnout on record, but most voters since 1997

by: Jason Springer

Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM EST

Turnout was 46.9% - the lowest on record for a gubernatorial election, down from 48.5% in 2005 and 49.3% in 2001, the only other times less than half of registered voters turned out at the polls.

Looked at another way, though, the turnout of 2,451,704 voters was the most for a governor's race since 1997 and marked a 105,000 voter increase over the election four years ago.

The percentage turnout is affected by the presidential election registration surge typically seen every four years, which was particularly large in 2008. There were 390,000 more registered voters in 2009 than four years - and it's likely that a goodly number were interested in the race for the White House but less jazzed about the run for Drumthwacket.

Taking the wrong message away from the election

by: Jason Springer

Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM EST

A poll released last week showed that New Jerseyans narrowly support gay marriage.

But enthusiasm for the bill has waned since Christie, a social conservative, beat Corzine by 100,000 votes on Nov. 3. The election was widely viewed as a referendum on high property taxes, strangling state debt and continued unemployment...

...making some lawmakers skittish about taking on a potentially divisive issue like marriage equality.

A Wake-Up Call

by: Paul Aronsohn

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 02:31:15 PM EST

Wow.  What an election.  The Statehouse.  The Freeholder Boards.  The Borough  Halls. Across the State and across the board, Democrats lost big at the ballot box as New Jerseyans voted overwhelmingly for change.  

This is particularly true here in Bergen County, where we Democrats are still trying to make sense of it all.  Why did it happen?  What are the implications?  What should we do next?

Christie's Charismatic Tea Leaves

by: Dennis Hyer

Sun Nov 15, 2009 at 04:39:55 PM EST

The election was only two weeks ago, and already I'm tired of hearing about Chris Christie's "charisma" ...  

In public appearances since Election Day, Christie has been blunt, funny, pugnacious, decisive, and, above all, forceful. He has been comfortable joking with teens and mingling with politicians, in control when dealing with the press, and defiant toward opponents and detractors.  

[...]  

Christie's public persona is a sharp contrast to that of Gov. Corzine, who often has been fumbling in the spotlight and meandering in his speech, leaving the public and lawmakers to parse his words for possible meanings.

We're supposed to elect a governor based on whether or not we think he can do the job and make life better for our state. Not because he has the "blunt, straightforward" personality of the average guy you'd find getting a cup of coffee at Wawa. No disrespect.  

Christie "is very straightforward, very direct, very blunt, and very New Jersey" said State Sen. Bill Baroni (R., Mercer), a close ally. "That bluntness and directness is exactly what we need right now."  

Baroni added that "there will be no need to read the tea leaves to figure out what Chris Christie thinks."

Tea leaves. That's funny. Because all through the campaign, Christie kept us guessing about what he would do when elected, substituting the always-reliable "cut spending" bromide for an actual plan. So what spending are you gonna cut, dude? Transportation? Education? What?

Maybe the tea leaves will tell us.

Quote of the Day: "It must be my beard"

by: Jason Springer

Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 04:15:00 PM EST

"I don't know, maybe it's, it must be my beard."

West Paterson loses out to Woodland Park by 29 votes

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 12:30:00 PM EST

Robert DeBlock, chairman of the Committee to Save West Paterson, congratulated the Committee to Keep Woodland Park on its campaign to keep the borough's name, which culminated Tuesday when residents rejected changing the borough's name back to West Paterson by a vote of 2,226 to 2,197 - a 29-vote margin. Those totals include polling numbers as well as mail-in ballots.

"If the numbers hold - and that remains to be seen - in my mind, this debate that has spanned three decades has come to a conclusion," DeBlock said during the meeting's public comment portion.

DeBlock said it was time for borough residents - who were divided over the name change - to unite and support the town name.

Nonetheless, borough resident Chris Laskowich said he planned to collect signatures for another petition to challenge the Woodland Park name.

"This isn't going away," he said.

Among the more costly items to change over will be police badges, though the total cost isn't clear yet, said Borough Administrator Kevin Galland. The badges were never changed to "Woodland Park" after last year's referendum.

The borough will continue to use envelopes with "West Paterson" in the address until they run out before ordering "Woodland Park" replacements. Name change or not, some borough infrastructure is scheduled for major maintenance, including the water tower emblazoned with "West Paterson," which hasn't been painted in 13 years.

Longer terms?

by: Jason Springer

Sun Feb 01, 2009 at 12:35:18 PM EST

The legislation is sponsored by Senator Scutari. There are no co-sponsors and there is no Assembly version of the bill, yet it will be up for discussion in Scutari's Senate State Government committee on Monday. Scutari made his main arguments for the bill:

"I really think that if it's passed it will be good for everyone," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the bill sponsor. "It will take more money out of contests ... it will give elected officials more time to tackle issues."

Changing the term structure would take a constitutional amendment, which would ultimately need voter approval. The measure will be considered in the Senate State Government Committee Monday, which is chaired by Scutari. If passed, it would need the approval of three-fifths of the Legislature before it would go to the voters. If approved, the change would take effect for legislators elected in the 2011 general election.

If you're going to undertake an effort like this, why not make the body a full time legislature increasing salaries and banning outside employment? Otherwise, I don't see how you're not just reshuffling when the contributions come in and changing who's on the ballot together.

Connecting the Dots

by: carolh

Sun Jan 18, 2009 at 06:17:09 PM EST

http://www.northjersey.com/opi...

Not many folks realized that Kevin Clancy is alleged forger and former Councilwoman Elaine Rabbitt's live-in.  

Kelly muses on how large a net was cast in the hunt for the forgers who hoped to rig the NJ State Senate District 37 special election in 2005 in favor of Ken Zisa, who is now on the Bergen County Board of Elections, and against Loretta Weinberg, who won after all the real votes were counted.

At the time, Kevin Clancy was Municipal Chair of the Bergenfield Democrats and staunch Ferriero-crat.  He was also on the Board of Elections too.  What you'd call IRONY if you realize Clancy knew enough about the fact that these were forgeries to TELL Tim Driscoll not to show up at the election because he was no longer on the CC. If Clancy simply received these forgeries FROM Driscoll, why the need to tell Driscoll what he already should know??

Thank you, Mr. Kelly.  There IS more to this story than footnotes.  If we don't find out the rest of this story soon, more embarassment for the BCDO and Democrats in Bergen County may be on the way during the NEXT election.

My Election Day

by: carolh

Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 01:10:33 PM EST

The pain of knowing exactly how she felt hit me right then.  Oh yes, I had definitely been there.  On election night, I envisioned celebrating the win of Obama, but there are so many folks like the accountant I just met, for whom a celebration would be quite premature.  If you have ever fallen through the cracks, it is a feeling you always have in the back of your mind, that your current comfort is so ephemeral, so fragile, so temporary, that it could take flight at any moment and leave you despairing, terrified, and ashamed all at the very same moment.  All because of some decision made by someone somewhere - without a face, without a name in some conference room somewhere.  A decision that changes your life's direction in  a moment, in a few words so devastating, so difficult to process after hearing them, that folks with "secure" jobs lose sleep, afraid they will hear them any moment, that "Your position has been eliminated",  "Your services are no longer needed",  "Your plant is closing", "You're fired", "You're laid off"  The result is the same.  Shock, abject fear, a feeling the floor was just pulled from under you like a party trick where the table cloth is yanked.  But this time, things don't stay standing.  It seems like everything crashes to the floor.  

It took me years of having a good income to shake that feeling that I was still poor, and still needed to be ashamed for the financial situation I am in due to years of medical bills and one career change made years ago. Remembering the good agencies I had dealt with and the bad ones, I recommended a few to her.  I wished her well and really meant it.  It is hard to be out of work.  On my drive home, I realized that this is what this election is really all about.  Folks just like her, and my friend, and my brother.  And me, years ago.  
Our American society so values work that we put it before everything, and see our own value in what we do for a living.  Being stripped of that, forces a total re-evaluation of one's self-worth.  

It was the Stock Market crash of 29 that forced a lot of wealthy folks to realize - there but for the grace of God, go I.  It was only when it happened to them that it was a "crisis".  Some who had measured their worth in dollars only realized then that we were all in this together.  The New Deal needed the Crash.  Perhaps our change of direction needed this Wall Street meltdown.  We needed to completely redefine who we were because money is a temporary condition.  And everybody found that out in 1929 in a hurry.  Unfortunately, my brother is realizing that now as well.   What persists?  What is the measure of a person?  Character.  Integrity.  It has nothing to do with what job you may be in the right place at the right time for.  It has nothing to do with being born into a wealthy family, or a poor one.  Circumstances change.  Skills and timing vary.  But character and integrity persist and overcome nearly every obstacle.  

At this moment in time, we need to help our friends and family who are having a difficult time.  Help them see their worth and value comes from inside of them, not from the temporary circumstances of their health or wealth.  Invite them over for dinner, just call them up and talk, stop by for a visit.  You just need to let them know that when they are doubting their worth, and their life's direction that you can remind them of who they are and what they mean to you.  It is the most important thing you can do for them at this difficult time.  All they need to help themselves overcome obstacles in life is inside them, it is up to us to remind them and help them through it.

As I drove home with more sobering thoughts than I left with, I was grateful to that woman who had reminded me of just why this election was so important.  I was ready to gloat over our side winning, just an hour before, but the weight of the implications of Election Day really gave me pause.

Later that evening, after the Local celebration of our volunteer firefighters winning their ballot question for an increase in their service awards, and the win of the Tenafly Dems, I was sitting home with my boyfriend when Obama had the very nice decency to get THIS election over by 11 pm Eastern time.

It was over faster than a BCDO special election - (well, almost)

When I saw Jesse Jackson with tears in his eyes, I just lost all control over my own tears.  I looked over at my boyfriend - who was crying too.  We cried for quite a while.  I remember meeting Jesse Jackson on the steps of the Hackensack Courthouse at a rally with Bill Clinton.  I remembered my very first political rally at Rutgers when we tried to get Rutgers to divest their funds from businesses in Apartheid South Africa.  Jesse Jackson was the very first major political figure I had been so moved by.  He spoke passionately and the feeling in the crowd was electric as we marched toward the Rutgers President's office where Jackson met with President Bloustein.  To Bloustein, our demonstration was nothing like the 60's ones he had lived through, and he was not persuaded to see our point, but shortly after, NJ divested itself from those investments.  And now we know that apartheid was defeated.

Each step builds on the progress of the step before, and I felt a debt of gratitude to Jesse Jackson and all the others who had fought so valiantly to see this day.  Of all the images Election day, the sight of Jesse Jackson was the one that so moved me, that when I saw it next day, the tears instantly welled up again.

And like I was reminded earlier on election nite, and again with the news today that we have lost over a million jobs in 2008, an Obama win is just the start of the healing, it will take a while to help each other out of this mess.  Let's get started..

Election Night Results Blogging at Blue Jersey

by: Adam L a/k/a clammyc

Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 12:54:15 PM EST

I will hopefully be live blogging at the Shulman for Congress victory party (wireless access permitting), and we will have updates from other Blue Jersey front pagers who will be "on the inside" at the Adler and Stender camps as well.

The thread will go up around 8PM to coincide with the closing of the polls, and hopefully we will have good news to report throughout the night.

Hope to see you here tomorrow night celebrating with us!!!

Teaching them young

by: Jason Springer

Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 04:48:47 PM EDT

Participants will have the opportunity to cast their votes for the presidential race, along with the U.S. Senate and House contests in New Jersey. Students will vote for congressional candidates in the district according to their school's location.

The New Jersey Press Foundation, which is coordinating the event in the Garden State, says more than 725 schools around New Jersey have enrolled an estimated 333,000 students. Voting will be conducted between Oct. 20 and Oct. 30, and the students can choose to vote in all or some of the categories.

Mock election officials say the event is "an excellent way to encourage young people to become interested in voting" and help them become more involved in state and national issues and candidates. It also provides parents and children with the opportunity to discuss their beliefs and concerns about matters that affect them.

We Should Vote By Absentee Ballots

by: huntsu

Thu Oct 09, 2008 at 10:45:00 AM EDT

In addition to all these new voters -- those from the February primary and the current massive influx -- there are expectations of significant turnout this year.  We're talking 70, 80 percent or more of registered voters.

That's 80 percent of all registered voters, including the thousands of thousands of new ones coming in every day.  More than in any recent election, and maybe in any election.  

But as you can see from the overtime and new hires in our county election offices, our infrastructure is not built for this kind of election.  They simply don't have the staff or computers or systems to handle the massive number of new voters.

Which leads to the question of whether they can handle election day.  If 80 percent turn out, 80 percent of the new unprecedented numbers, do we have enough machines and poll workers to handle it?  If we can't handle the input of voter data, can we handle it when they come to the polls?

There will not only be more people, but probably confusion because of the number of first time voters.  Just by nature there will have been data entry errors that could cause a massive number of provisional ballots.  Errors and provisional ballots require more (and better) poll workers to step away from the tables, slowing down lines.

And slow lines mean some people will walk away, needing to get to work after lunch or to pick up a kid at school.  And that means people will not vote.

Large turnout also requires more machines on which to vote.  Most counties have a few extra machines, but not many.  They can't deploy them because surplus machines might be needed in the event of breakdowns.  This could mean that there are not enough voting machines -- regardless of your position on their quality and verifiability -- to handle a blow-out election.

The only way we can combat this is to vote by absentee ballot, as many of us as possible.  If you don't go to the polls, that's one less person in line to slow things down.  If you get 10 neighbors to vote absentee, that's an even larger improvement to the process.

New Jersey now has no-fault early voting, where just concerns over the quality of our machines is enough to get an absentee ballot.  Hell, you don't even need a reason.

But ensuring that every vote gets counted, that people are not frustrated into walking away from their vote, is vitally important.  

So do your county, state and country a favor.  Vote absentee.

ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION

LIST OF COUNTY CLERKS

Obama HQ Open House

by: carolh

Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 10:11:44 PM EDT

Obama Headquarters
is located at
The Carpenter's Union Hall,
36 Bergen Street (bet Main and State Sts),
Hackensack, NJ

Obama HQ will be open daily from 10 AM to 10 PM

Contact:  Craig Dorsett
Phone:  (201) 638-3734
Email: cdorsett@njforchange.com

Looking forward to seeing you Saturday morning!

I plan on going.  Please stop by whenever you can find a few spare hours.  EVERY volunteer, no matter how little time they can spare, matters.  So, please don't stay home - there is too much at stake......

New Brunswick wards get zoning petition on ballot

by: mconvente

Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 09:08:08 AM EDT

Any honest Congressmen left in NJ?

by: carolh

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 01:10:16 AM EDT

Unfortunately, Rothman is more worried about his own re-election than about the future of the Democratic party and about a fair and open process.  I am so disappointed I can't even express it.  He has become an apologist for his crony - a dictator - who refuses to let County Committee members do anything to represent the people.  

Why have you sunk so low, sir?  I used to respect you.  I used to, but like my respect for Jon Corzine and Dick Codey - it has dropped due to your lip service to ethics reform.  My mom always told me  - be careful who your friends are.  Maybe your mom never told you that.  

We are having our "election" at 5 tomorrow.  Gee, will Joe let us have the candidates speak BEFORE the vote or AFTER, like usual?  Will he herd us like cattle into different pens depending on our towns and loyalty?  Will it be a secret vote?

Get there as soon as you can - before he can call a voice vote.  Bring your cameras, folks, and videocameras and extra memory cards and batteries, we're gonna need it!  Looks like we're REALLY on our own this time.

Ferriero puts out Glossy Ads for Re-election

by: carolh

Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 12:00:08 PM EDT

The glowing endorsements are from:

Bob Menendez
Jon Corzine
Dick Codey
Steve Rothman
Dennis McNerney
Paul Sarlo

Missing from the endorsements are any Dems in Bergen County who aren't beholden to Joe for THEIR re-election.  

He's worried all right.  He's spent a lot of $$$ advertising for his re-election.  TWO different ads.  One of which takes credit for ANYWHERE dems won in Bergen even if they won DESPITE him.  Like in Tenafly.

He's gonna need all the help he can get.

A Trickle of a Primary

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 03:55:44 PM EDT

Voting in the primary election today got off to a slow start in some New Jersey polling places despite some races that were expected to be competitive.

At one district voting at Cherry Hill West High School, there were only two voters in nearly two hours, leaving poll workers to chat and work on crossword puzzles as they waited for more.

Meanwhile, in Monmouth County's Ocean Township, only 29 of the nearly 900 registered voters in one district had voted by midday.

Turnout in New Jersey's primaries held in early June has hovered around 10 percent for the last several years.

Will we make ten percent?  Small voting pools mean each voter has even more power than in regular elections - so thank God we are being protected from dishonest homeless people.

The Night Democracy Died

by: carolh

Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 11:22:23 PM EST

I got to the gym at the Hackensack Middle School at 4:30 and when I went to vote, I wasn't challenged - for once.  I was handed a small blue slip of paper and I looked all around for a private place to write on it and finally saw a tiny piece of cardboard about 1 ft square - I kid you not - that I guess was supposed to be some kind of privacy screen.  It was taped so it stood at one corner of the very same table where I gave my name.  Grabbing one of the pens on the table which all said Ariyan for State Senate on them, I realized it didn't really matter because the ONLY choice was between Camille and Dennis for Congress and Boss Joe had used the BCDO phones and money to ONLY push for his choice - Dennis Shulman.  Which is why Shulman won.  It was NOT a private vote.  There was a little box just 2 ft behind the workers taking signatures and I asked the young man watching the flimsy cardboard box if it had been empty before this little exercise and he smiled and said it had been checked by four people.  He didn't say who.  Lets just say - I DIDN'T vote for Vernon Walton who was coronated only a few weeks ago.

I then stood for roughly two hours handing out flyers to every county committee person I could in the Hackensack Middle school.  The flyers quoted the Mike Kelly column in the Record today and urged members to stay and support Robert Gulack's attempt to get our "Bill of Rights" for the County Committee passed.  The one that would ENSURE fair and HONEST committee elections. The one we had asked to have a convention to bring to a vote last year after obtaining the necessary signatures.  The petition that was IGNORED by Boss Joe because it would have made him an honest man.

I watched the auditorium finally fill up with the Committe members for speeches by the candidates even though the only contest was really between Camille Abate and Dennis Schulman.  At least this time we had a semblance of a candidates speech time - after most folks had ALREADY VOTED.  After we stood for the pledge, Robert Gulack rose holding a copy of Robert's Rules of Order in his hand and declared he had a point of order.  Would the Chairman allow Mr. Gulack to speak.  

That was when the thugs in the back of the room threatened to throw Mr. Gulack out.  It was a small but vocal and rude minority that attempted to shout Mr. Gulack down.  Boss Joe stated that this convention WAS NOT SUBJECT to the Bylaws and when Mr. Gulack disagreed and asked Chairman Ferriero to explain which part of the Bylaws allowed him to preside over a convention of the Committee WITHOUT following the Bylaws, Boss Joe stated that he would take a vote on denying Mr. Gulack the floor.  

It would have been funny if it was not a serious breach of the rules when Boss Joe said  - "All in favor?" and his goons in the back of the room shouted "YES!!!!" before the folks still trickling into the room knew what was going on.  At that, Boss Joe said basically that the ayes have it.  I was stunned - still waiting for my turn to shout NAY! but there was no forthcoming "All those opposed?"  

I felt like Charlie Brown lying on my back after Lucy just pulled the football away AGAIN.

So that is his LATEST trick.  That is how Joe takes a voice vote.  Nice, huh?

Mr. Gulack, who actually knows and follows Roberts Rules had to sit down.  I was so disgusted at what I had just seen that when Boss Joe then let Ms. Lynn Hurwitz get up to speak, I had to get out of there. I got up, turned to the thug behind me - told him he was nothing more than a sheep and left the auditorium.  

I was surprised we even got this far, but at least there were more witnesses tonite to the horrific way Boss Joe runs the Democratic (now there's an oxymoron) party in Bergen County.  

The only fun part of the night was watching Ms. Rabbit from Bergenfiield tell Dennis Schulman who was running for Congress not to believe everything he may have heard about Bergenfield.  I wanted to run up after her and say - "believe it! believe it!"

If anyone else had the strength to stand there and watch the rest of the "show" please let me know how it turned out.  I just was so enraged and infuriated and disappointed and beside myself, I was afraid I would have to confront the loud mouthed bullies that had taken over my political party.

I'd be hard pressed not to punch one of them before the men (and they were mostly men - white men at that) all beat the heck out of me.  They were so riled up that anyone would DARE EVEN HAVE AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT that wasn't put in their head by Joe Ferriero - the guy who got them their county jobs.

Just disgraceful, disgusting, and an event that made me want to live somewhere else.  

Primary Election Day Open Thread

by: Jay Lassiter

Tue Feb 05, 2008 at 06:22:56 PM EST

New Jersey Democratic primary (98% reporting)     Hillary Clinton     54%     Barack Obama     44 %

Problems with voting machines in NJ?

by: nms716

Tue Feb 05, 2008 at 04:21:16 PM EST

Please contact Penny Venetis at (973)353-5687 or pennyv@kinoy.rutgers.edu