At present, the ballot for the 2018 Democratic primary election in Monmouth County is structured in columns (aka the “party line” design), with opponents to candidates for various offices listed to their right in a horizontal line. This structure is designed to favor candidates in the leftmost column (the “line”), since voters tend to vote down that column in a vertical line. The value of this ballot placement for certain candidates has been clearly demonstrated by past results: not once has a candidate appearing to the right of this “line” won a primary race.
But the ballot design isn’t the only confusing aspect of the Democratic primary process. There’s the party convention itself, which is held prior to the primary election. The purpose of the convention is to select the party’s “officially endorsed” candidates who will go up against Republicans in the fall. Monmouth County voters have been led to believe that they are in fact the ones empowered with selecting candidates by means of the June 5 primary. Instead, these countywide conventions, held prior to the primary, select candidates to whom the party gives imprimatur and support. Monmouth County’s endorsed Democratic candidates then receive preferential placement (the aforementioned “party line”) on the primary ballot. The voters have been misled, and the primary elections are to a large degree a waste of taxpayer money.
In general, the honor of appearing as a delegate to a New Jersey county convention is given to all municipal chairs, committee members, sitting and former office holders, etc. In the current Monmouth County system, only 20 percent of those entitled to participate can actually vote, and these lucky few are selected by county municipal chairs. This 20 percent system has been the tradition for a while, with the “explanation” that there is not a large enough venue in which to hold the event such that all delegates might attend and vote. In essence, the municipal chairs are directly affecting the outcome of all convention polls by selecting the people who will vote.
Finally, there are no written rules about any of these procedures, and thus, existing “rules” can be – and often are—altered depending on particular circumstances. This is not just bad procedure, it’s bad policy. These rules should be part of the public record.
All the above determined who received the “party line” treatment on the 2018 primary ballot, and why said ballot is designed in a way that is sure to once again generate a biased result. There were roughly 300 votes placed by convention delegates at the March 4, 2018 Monmouth County Democratic Convention, and these 300 – not the 132,736 registered Democrats of Monmouth County – have already chosen the candidate who will face Republican Chris Smith this fall.
In a year when Democrats should be pulling together, a year when there is talk of a massive “Blue Wave” in November, a handful of politicians has predetermined Monmouth County’s Democratic candidates.
Lisa Iannucci
Ocean Grove
But the ballot design isn’t the only confusing aspect of the Democratic primary process. There’s the party convention itself, which is held prior to the primary election. The purpose of the convention is to select the party’s “officially endorsed” candidates who will go up against Republicans in the fall. Monmouth County voters have been led to believe that they are in fact the ones empowered with selecting candidates by means of the June 5 primary. Instead, these countywide conventions, held prior to the primary, select candidates to whom the party gives imprimatur and support. Monmouth County’s endorsed Democratic candidates then receive preferential placement (the aforementioned “party line”) on the primary ballot. The voters have been misled, and the primary elections are to a large degree a waste of taxpayer money.
In general, the honor of appearing as a delegate to a New Jersey county convention is given to all municipal chairs, committee members, sitting and former office holders, etc. In the current Monmouth County system, only 20 percent of those entitled to participate can actually vote, and these lucky few are selected by county municipal chairs. This 20 percent system has been the tradition for a while, with the “explanation” that there is not a large enough venue in which to hold the event such that all delegates might attend and vote. In essence, the municipal chairs are directly affecting the outcome of all convention polls by selecting the people who will vote.
Finally, there are no written rules about any of these procedures, and thus, existing “rules” can be – and often are—altered depending on particular circumstances. This is not just bad procedure, it’s bad policy. These rules should be part of the public record.
All the above determined who received the “party line” treatment on the 2018 primary ballot, and why said ballot is designed in a way that is sure to once again generate a biased result. There were roughly 300 votes placed by convention delegates at the March 4, 2018 Monmouth County Democratic Convention, and these 300 – not the 132,736 registered Democrats of Monmouth County – have already chosen the candidate who will face Republican Chris Smith this fall.
In a year when Democrats should be pulling together, a year when there is talk of a massive “Blue Wave” in November, a handful of politicians has predetermined Monmouth County’s Democratic candidates.
Lisa Iannucci
Ocean Grove
This article was first published in the May 24-31, 2018 print edition of The Two River Times.
