Committee Elections Must Advance Despite Order

To the Editor:
The county committees of both parties serve important functions and most importantly have the power to fill vacancies in New Jersey Legislature. They appoint replacement state senators and assembly members. 
Most recently in Cape May County, the Democratic County Committee appointed Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak to fill a vacancy in the State Senate when Sen. Jeff Van Drew won the election to represent New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District in the House of Representatives.
Under normal circumstances, county committee elections are held during the primary election of a scheduled year; in Cape May County, these were once held biennially, but before being appointed County Prosecutor, through a process known as Senatorial courtesy via Jeff Van Drew, Jeffrey Sutherland was Democratic chairman and scheduled elections to be held during Presidential election years, or every four years.
The last time the Democratic County Committee held elections was during 2016, way back when we couldn’t know who would be president or governor going forward.
In a letter posted online, chairman of the Democratic Committee of Cape May County Brendan Sciarra announced: “County Committee elections for Democrats in Cape May have been postponed until June 2021.”
In my view, the chair has no legal ground to postpone this election, and the election will go forward. 
Title 19 governs elections in the state and the law is clear, as are the bylaws.
NJ 19:5-3: The members of the county committees of political parties shall be elected at the primary for the general election by voters of a municipality at such intervals as shall be provided in the bylaws of the county committee.
CMC Democratic Committee Bylaws: Section 1: Elected Membership – The County Committee shall be composed of two registered Democrats in each district elected every four years at the Primary election by the Democratic voters of each district in the County [NJS19:5-3]
Elections are held every four years during the primary election, period. June 2016 was our last election, and June 2020 will be our next.
It’s true that COVID-19 is making elections and all activity more difficult, but it’s a basic principle of democracy that elections go forward. Voting is a right people fought to earn and we continue to fight to keep. We won’t allow partisan officials to cancel our democracy.
The work of the County Clerk during this COVID-19 pandemic is truly undervalued. During a committee election year, the clerk will have to work to produce 508 different ballots in Cape May County alone.
In the case we move to an all Vote by Mail situation, I understand the concern of the massive workload that will be placed on Clerk Rita Fulginiti.
The state Legislature recently passed measures to allow for online signature collection, an extension for ballot access for candidates and mail-in-ballot processing for County Clerks. 
These bills did not include that county chairs could cancel committee elections this year. In fact, the Legislature made it easier than ever to be a candidate by allowing for online signature collection and removing notary requirements.
Barring a bill passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor before April 1, the chairs have no choice but to execute their positions faithfully and move forward with committee elections.
Candidates wishing to be elected to county committee and placed on the ballot should collect the required signatures and ensure their municipal clerk receives the completed documents before April 1. These can be found at nj.gov/state/elections/ or reach out to Cape May County Democrats at capemayconnected@gmail.com for assistance.
Voters deserve their say in a committee election that will influence next year’s gubernatorial election.