In a normal year, the closing of the polls for today’s primary election would signal the beginning of a single-minded focus on the general election. This year, however, is no ordinary year.
Instead of a single Nov. 5 general election featuring state and local races, along with the special election to replace Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died yesterday, there will be a series of votes, as announced by Gov. Chris Christie today.
Normally, New Jersey voters will get the chance to vote again three more times: in a Senate primary on Aug. 13, in a special Senate election Oct. 16 and, finally, in a general election featuring battles for governor and all 120 seats in the state Legislature.
Christie explained his decision this way at a news conference earlier today:
“The issues facing the U.S. Senate are too critically important, the decisions that need to be dealt with too vital, not to have an elected representative making those decisions who was voted on and decided by on the people of this state,” Christie said at a news conference in Trenton.
He is right, of course. The decision on who should fill the seat — and all elected seats — should be filled by the voters as quickly as they can be filled, within reason.
But, why hold a special vote on Oct. 16 — just 20 days before voters already were scheduled to go to the polls — instead of Nov. 5? The answer, though I suspect our straight-talking governor would disagree, is politics.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver was blunt in her criticism:
“The November general election date is what’s best for taxpayers and voter turn-out,” Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said in a statement. “It’s unquestionably the best option, but Gov. Christie has chosen to put partisan politics and his self-interest first.”
The Star-Ledger called the decision “a shameless move that will waste at least $12 million and risk the integrity of the vote.”
For him to present it as a high-minded attempt to empower voters shows what nerve the guy has.
There is no legitimate reason to hold two separate elections, and the reason he’s doing it is purely self-serving. He calculates that more Democratic voters will show up and cast ballots against him if a popular Democratic candidate like Newark Mayor Cory Booker is on the ballot as well. Given the big lead the governor has already, the greed here is striking: He apparently wants to run up his margin of victory as a credential for his 2016 presidential campaign.
Remember, this is the same governor who opposed early voting by citing the extra costs. It seems different rules apply when he stands to benefit personally.
What the governor has set up is a tag-team election that could end up suppressing the vote — a move that generally benefits Republicans in a majority Democratic state but short-changes voters, costs unnecessary money and contradicts efforts by the state Legislature to consolidate elections and boost turnout.
Hank Kalet 