Only 890,000 people (14%) voted in the June primaries - a 10%-11% drop from the already low participation in 2020 and 2016.
This is a sad statement about the electoral process in our state.
One of the reasons for the low voter turnout is that New Jersey’s 2.4 million independent/unaffiliated voters are told to stay home unless they agree to join a party.
Most of us do not want to be forced to join a party to participate in taxpayer-funded elections. Imagine if you were a Republican and were told that you had to register as a Democrat to be able to vote.
Common misperceptions about independents are that we are leaners or uninterested. Not true. Most of us do not like the two-party system and want to vote for the candidate not the party. We span all points of view from conservative to liberal.
Most New Jersey elections are decided in the primaries. Without a fair primary, we cannot have a fair election. We can’t have fair primaries if we exclude a large segment of voters.
Let all voters vote. I invite all concerned voters to sign our petition for open primaries at https://forms.gle/piCeGuMGMz1E373h9
Sue Davies
Newton