League of Women Voters of New Jersey v. Ocean County Board of Elections

Complaint filed on behalf of voters who were unlawfully targeted and threatened with disenfranchisement.

The ACLU of New Jersey and the Harvard Election Law Clinic filed suit on behalf of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and three individual voters registered in Bay Head, NJ who have been unlawfully targeted by the Ocean County Board of Elections and threatened with disenfranchisement. The lawsuit, which is the first to be brought under the recently enacted John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey (NJVEA), comes after the ACLU-NJ sent a letter to the Board urging it to immediately cease its efforts to unlawfully remove voters from the rolls or face legal liability. The brief argues that the targeted mass voter challenge process constitutes prohibited voter intimidation in violation of the NJVEA, and offends both the equal protection guarantee and the right to vote enshrined in the New Jersey Constitution. It also warns that, absent judicial intervention, the Board’s scheme stands to become a blueprint for abusing challenge laws to silence or chill disfavored voters on baseless grounds.