Just another way to cement the Democratic hold over NJ for many years to come.
Unless your a criminal and have something to hide why would you be fearful of a Cop standing outside your local Polling place?
NEW JERSEY- A bill passed by the New Jersey State Assembly last week would limit the presence of law enforcement officers at polling places and ballot drop boxes.
The Senate needs to act on a companion bill before it goes to Governor Phil Murphy for signature. The legislation seeks to prohibit police officers or other law enforcement officers from remaining or standing within 100 feet of a polling place unless they are there to cast their own votes.
Police officers won’t be prohibited to responding to emergencies or disturbances at the polls or ballot boxes. The new law would require them to quickly resolve the issues and only stay at the location as long as it takes to address and remove the specific emergency or disturbance.
No Republican members of the Assembly voted in favor of A4655, which passed 44-25-3 and also prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of ballot drop boxes.
Ninth District Assemblyman Rumpf and Assemblywoman Gove both voted against the bill. Senator Connors intends to vote against the Senate version, S-2923.
“This bill is a cheap shot at police officers and if enacted would serve to further erode confidence in the state’s election process,” shared the 9th District Delegation in a press release. “It falsely implies that police officers intimidate voters or participate in voter suppression when there is no evidence to suggest any of the kind.”
“If anything, barring police officers from being in proximity to polling places and drop boxes is likely to lead to activities that compromise the integrity of the election process,” the state legislators continued. “Bad actors may be more inclined to take advantage of the situation knowing that police officers’ hands are tied by the very laws they’ve sworn an oath to uphold.”
A recent NJ Spotlight article provides the reason why Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer) sponsored the bill with other legislators. She pointed to voter suppression and intimidation, particularly as it applied to black voters.
According to NJ Spotlight, Reynolds-Jackson said that the League of Women Voters in Lawrence Township gave her a report of 1,000 individual complaints citing police intimidation of voters.
https://www.tapinto.net/sections/elections/articles/police-presence-at-polling-places-and-ballot-drop-boxes-yes-or-no