MAPLEWOOD DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE PRESS RELEASE

Maplewood Democratic Committee Continues to Lead the Charge for Ballot Reform in New Jersey 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Maplewood, NJ (March 13, 2024) --The Maplewood Democratic Committee (MDC) passed two resolutions in their March 11, 2024 meeting calling on Democratic Party leadership to institute an “office block” ballot for all primary elections to be held in Maplewood, and to hold an Essex County Democratic Convention where all duly elected Democratic Party District Leaders can vote by secret ballot to endorse candidates in primary elections.

The Maplewood Democratic Committee has been a leader in working for change to the “party line” ballot used in New Jersey primary elections, the only State in the United States to use this ballot design. The MDC went through a process two years ago to resolve that in Maplewood, all local Township Committee candidates would appear on the same line on the primary ballot. Working with party leadership and the Essex County Clerk’s Office, that change was enacted in the 2022 primary election for Maplewood Township Committee, continuing in 2023 and again this year. The Maplewood Democratic Committee has continued to lobby and advocate for improvements to create a fairer ballot throughout these past two years and passed formal resolutions to that effect at our most recent meeting. The resolutions are attached below.

LeRoy Jones, Chair of the Essex County and New Jersey State Democratic Committees issued an op-ed piece appearing in today’s New Jersey Globe announcing efforts to create a more consistent and fair ballot system throughout all twenty one New Jersey counties through legislative action this year, expressing an openness to those consistent ballots utilizing an “office block” voting ballot.

The Maplewood Democratic Committee is proud to be at the forefront of the efforts to bring about this much needed and desired change.

For further information, please contact Ian Grodman, MDC Chair at iangrodman@gmail.com.