BILL GIVING NJ VOTERS EARLY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

(PRINCETON) – Legislation sponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Assemblymen Mims Hackett and Bob Gordon that would move New Jersey’s presidential primary election date to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in February was signed into law today by Governor Jon S. Corzine.

“For years, New Jersey’s primary date guaranteed that our residents were left on the sidelines when it came time for selecting presidential candidates,� said Roberts (D-Camden).  “It’s past time New Jersey voters moved from back of the class to front of the class in determining who should lead this nation.�

The measure (S-2193/A-4010) ensures that New Jersey voters become a part of what is being called the biggest change in presidential primary politics in decades.

“New Jersey residents have been treated as second-class citizens in the presidential election process for far too long,� said Watson Coleman (D-Mercer).  “By the time our June primary date rolled around, our voters were treated to a ballot depleted by drop-outs.  It’s time we stopped being treated as an afterthought by the major political parties when choosing a president.�

The National Association of Secretaries of State lists 22 other states that have changed, or are considering changing, the date of their presidential primaries to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in February, or February 5 in 2008.  They are:  Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada (GOP primary), New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

Only a handful of other jurisdictions would hold presidential nominations before New Jersey if the date change were enacted:  the District of Columbia, Iowa, Nevada (Democratic caucuses), New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Wyoming (Republican caucuses).  North Dakota and Ohio have yet to schedule their contests, but also are expected to select February dates.

New Jersey’s presidential primary has been held in June – the last in the nation – for decades.  The late date, however, often left New Jersey voters in the lurch as the major parties effectively decided their respective nominees through primaries in other states months before New Jersey’s.

To remedy the situation, legislation was enacted in 2005 to move New Jersey’s primary date to the end of February.  For 2008, that date would have been February 26.  But the effectiveness of that date change was compromised last summer when the Democratic National Committee rearranged its primary calendar so all but a select few states would have their primaries before New Jersey’s.

“We cannot let other states once again relegate us to the back of the pack,� said Gordon (D-Bergen).  “As other states race to hold their primaries as early as possible, we can’t allow New Jersey to once again become Presidential Nowheresville, USA.�

“This change will force presidential hopefuls to address the issues important to New Jersey and other suburban states—property taxes, transportation, homeland security, and urban poverty – and not just the parochial concerns of a few,� said Hackett (D-Essex).

The legislators have long expressed misgivings about the fact that presidential contenders view New Jersey as an electoral ATM machine that they can access for political contributions while ignoring the state’s voters in the primary process.

“New Jersey has just as much a stake in the presidential electoral process as any other state,� Roberts said.  “New Jersey should be coveted for more than just the millions of dollars that residents contribute to the various campaigns.  Presidential contenders need to covet our primary votes as well.�

--30--