New Jersey state election officials recently wrote a letter to an attorney who represents the Socialist Party, refusing the party’s request that voters be permitted to register as members of the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party is more active in New Jersey than in any other state, and has regularly had candidates on the ballot in New Jersey elections almost every year for the past decade.
In 2001, New Jersey state courts ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to only let voters register as Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. That case had been filed by five unqualified parties: Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform. So, ever since 2001, voters have been permitted to register into those parties.
In 2006 the Conservative Party sued New Jersey over registration, and the state immediately gave in and said voters could register in that party as well. But in all these years, the state has never promulgated any regulations to establish an objective standard to determine which parties may have registration rights. Therefore, it is likely that the Socialist Party will now sue New Jersey, which will of course require the state to expend some resources to respond to the lawsuit. It would be surprising if the state, upon being sued, mounts any defense of its policy.
What an open waste of taxpayer’s dollars and to punish freedom of speech in voting rights. Did NJ just become some second rate state having one party-ish Republ-o-cratics despots or what? Where are our freedoms if majority tyranny is the way to oppress the people. “True” Socialism by Karl Marx in The German Ideology cites these majority types as “ignorant”. If we had more Radical Democracy like in the book by C. Douglas Lummis then we would have more localism of expression and a descending opinion and vote which freedom allows, that is in part, socialism’s institution to further democracy by the people and not the mob.
If the lawsuit is successful, it’s my understanding that New Jersey will be third or fourth state to allow people to register as “Socialists,” and actually count the registration. However, because of the way the party affiliation form is set up, it might be the first to explicitly list the Socialist Party on its voter forms.