Reasons To Vote: A User Guide

Here's a video reminder that there are as many reasons to vote as there are voters.

Pick one.

And vote tomorrow, June 5, in New Jersey's primaries. 

Video: Meredith and Liz Lynch. Be A Voter Graphic: Ray Caramanna. Shout-out to members Elaine Cooper, Ken Dolsky and Tom Wyka for a great list of reasons. 


News From The Primary Home Stretch

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Heading toward Tuesday's finish line, here's some things reporters and commentators have had to say about the primaries.

The NJ11 Congressional Race

 

Primary Season Trends And Topics

 

Elsewhere, While We’ve Been Primarying …


REMINDER: Primary Election Vote By Mail Option

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Image: Pixabay

Today was an important deadline for applying by mail for a Mail-In Ballot by Mail for the Primary Election. Which makes it a good day to share additional Mail-In Ballot information!

First: If you want to receive your mail-in ballot in the mail, the application must be at your county clerk's office 7 days prior to the primary election, which is, basically, now. But read on.

Second: If you didn't make the apply-by-mail deadline, don't despair. You still have time to apply in person for your vote-by-mail ballot at your county clerk's office.

According to the NJ Department of State:

To receive your ballot by mail, the application must be received by the County Clerk 7 days prior to the election.

A voter may also apply in person to the County Clerk until 3:00 p.m., the day before the election.

The County Clerk cannot accept faxed or emailed copies of a Application for Vote by Mail Ballot, unless you are a Military or Overseas Voter, since an original signature is required.

 

You can vote by mail in New Jersey for any reason you wish -- you do not have to be officially out of town on Election Day. So if this is an option that makes sense to you, go for it. You still can.

For a complete list of vote-by-mail applications by county, go here.

Not sure whether you are registered to vote? Check at this site.

Need a voter registration form? Click here to download a form. (Make sure to choose the form for the county where you live.)

 


Guest Post: The Silver Lining To The Sh*t Show We Are Living Through

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By Laurie Beacham

School shootings. Children ripped away from families. Assaults on our democracy. The list goes on. It’s hard not to wake up each day with a heavy heart. So why does my heart feel so full?

I’ve spent the last year and a half as part of a new community of activists. Smart, strategic, kind human beings who I would not know were it not for the political shi*t storm we are living through. Working mothers whose lives were already bursting at the seams, who now find time to knock on doors. People with aging parents who take time out to write postcards. Teenagers who (gulp) take time away from hanging with friends to protest gun violence.

Bonded by a shared distress over events around us and a desire to do something about it, we’ve discovered our respective talents and pooled them wisely. We’ve identified the writers and the history buffs, the number crunchers and the political junkies, the artists and the knitters. We know who does what well and we support each other in doing it.

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Spending hours upon hours together, we’ve also gotten to know each other. Our struggles and joys, our families and jobs, and even our dogs and cats! We make each other laugh and we let each other cry. In this thriving community of hearts and minds, many of us have become friends.

It’s a strange duality, knowing each day that something is very wrong – and something is very right. Watching the growth of a beautiful garden from our political hole in the ground. Feeling my heart both hurting -- and exquisitely full.

And it strikes me that this wonderful community is not just a side benefit of these challenging times, but the solution itself.  If this were the way the whole world was, wouldn’t everything be okay?

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Laurie Beacham is the Media Director of NJ 11th for Change and lives in Livingston.


We Write Letters: Whose Bubble Is It Anyway?

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Welcome to We Write Letters, an occasional series in which we draw your attention to the ink (or bandwidth) our members are getting in Letters to the Editor sections as they share their opinions with their superior letter-writing skills!

This week Laura Morowitz from our Verona Town Team hit it big with an appearance in the Washington Post with a spirited take on what exactly might constitute an echo-chamber/bubble: 

So those of us who live and work in diverse urban communities, reading international sources and engaging in work that affects people around the world, are inside a bubble, but others who have never left the towns where they were born or had a conversation with someone who wasn’t born in the United States are not? 

Read the whole thing here.


Guest Post: Confessions of a First-Time Canvasser

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Editor’s Note: Over the last several weeks, the town teams of NJ 11th for Change have been walking their neighborhoods door-to-door, spreading the word that there's congressional election primary coming up soon, and talking to neighbors about the importance of voting. Guest author and NJ 11th for Change Field Director Judy Kelly writes about what going out to canvass means to her.

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I’ll admit it.  I did not go out and canvass for Hillary Clinton.  I didn’t go out for Phil Murphy. I made excuses: Too busy. Too tired. Too many things to do.  I felt bad about these decisions, but never bad enough to push beyond my own limitations. Nothing got me to do it.

Then the calendar turned to 2018.  As I sat here in January, I took a hard look at what I’d done to date.  Sure, I could console myself that I was contributing. I mean, I helped with events, I called my representatives, I posted on Facebook and complained to my like-minded friends.  In the end though, I knew it wasn’t enough. I knew I wasn’t keeping the promises I made following Election 2016.

Read more

REMINDER: Register to Vote in Primaries

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If you are not currently registered to vote in New Jersey, and you want to participate in primary elections on June 5, you must register to vote by:

***Tuesday, May 15***

Other important dates for the 2018 midterm election cycle:

  • May 29 – Primary – Vote by Mail deadline
  • June 5 – PRIMARY ELECTION
  • October 16 – General Election Voter Registration deadline
  • October 30 – General Election Vote by Mail deadline
  • November 6 – ELECTION DAY

 

Not sure whether you are registered to vote? Check at this site.

Need a voter registration form? Click here to download a form. (Make sure to choose the form for the county where you live.)


Primary Primer 4: Democrats on the Issues

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Democrats on the June 5 primary ballot.

Top row: Tamara Harris, Mikie Sherrill and Mitchell Cobert. Bottom row: Alison Heslin and Mark Washburne.

Note: Fourth and final post in a series providing background about contenders in the NJ 11 congressional race.

(Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.)

Less than a month to go to the primaries! Still looking to become a more informed voter? Here are highlights about what the Democrats in the 11th District congressional race think about key issues. For additional information and perspectives, be sure to follow the links in the text.

Background for these profiles came from the articles and websites linked, in addition to the writer’s notes from a candidate forum in April 2018.

Read more

Primary Primer 3: Republicans on the Issues

Republicans on the June 5 primary ballot. Top row: Jay Webber, Peter de Neufville, Antony Ghee. Bottom row: Patrick Allocco, Martin Hewitt.

Thirty-five days to the primaries - but who’s counting? Still looking to become a more informed voter? In Part 3 of Primary Primer, here are some highlights about what Republican candidates in the 11th District congressional race think about key issues. For additional information and perspectives, be sure to follow the links in the text. (For biographical details on the candidates, see Part 1 and Part 2.)

Background for these profiles came from the articles and websites linked, in addition to the writer’s notes from candidate forums in November 2017 and April 2018.

Read more

Guest Column: A Member's View of Republicans' Debate

Editor's note: Recently, all five Republican candidates for the District 11 congressional race shared the spotlight in a candidate debate at the Randolph Diner, sponsored by the Morris County Young Republicans. InsiderNJ had a report (see link). Also in the audience was NJ 11th for Change member Siva Jonnada — and here is what he had to say about the event. It’s an interesting read for those of us who couldn’t be there.

This column solely reflects our guest columnist’s views, and does not represent any official positions of NJ 11th for Change.

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Primary Primer 2: Who's Who--Republicans

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Republicans on the June 5 primary ballot. Top row: Jay Webber, Peter de Neufville, Antony Ghee. Bottom row: Patrick Allocco, Martin Hewitt.

It’s six weeks till Primary Tuesday. Do you know who’s on the ballot for the 11th District congressional race? Or what they’ve been saying about the issues? We’re here to help with Primary Primer, a series of posts providing a quick, informative look at the 11th District race.

Our first two installments cover the basic background on the candidates, Democratic and Republican. The next posts will outline what they’ve said about key issues. (Here is Part 1.)

Part 2: The Republican candidates vying for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.

Read more

Primary Primer 1: Who's Who--Democrats

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Democrats on the June 5 primary ballot. Top row: Tamara Harris, Mikie Sherrill and Mitchell Cobert. Bottom row: Alison Heslin and Mark Washburne.

It’s six weeks till Primary Tuesday. Do you know who’s on the ballot for the 11th District congressional race? Or what they’ve been saying about the issues? We’re here to help with Primary Primer, a series of posts providing a quick, informative look at the 11th District race.

Our first two installments cover the basic background on the candidates, Democratic and Republican. Future posts will outline what they’ve said about key issues.

Part 1: The Democratic candidates vying for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.  

Read more