ACLU-NJ and Harvard Election Law Clinic File Suit on Behalf of Voters Unlawfully Targeted by the Ocean County Board of Elections

The ACLU of New Jersey and the Harvard Election Law Clinic today 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 lawsuit was filed in Superior Court in Mercer County.

“The Ocean County Board of Elections has intimidated and discriminated against voters in Bay Head and put unconstitutional barriers in the way of the exercise of their fundamental right to vote,” said Liza Weisberg, supervising attorney for the ACLU of New Jersey. “We are urging the court to provide immediate relief, and we are confident our courageous clients will prevail.”

The Ocean County Board of Elections sent the targeted voters a letter threatening to challenge their right to vote and requiring them to jump through onerous and unnecessary hoops to justify their registered addresses. These efforts targeted Democratic and unaffiliated voters who are registered to vote in Bay Head and purportedly receive their tax bills elsewhere, while sparing registered Republicans in the same position. The Board of Elections, which is chaired by the leader of the Ocean County Republican Party, took action against these voters after the Bay Head GOP president sent the Board a list of voters he felt should not be voting at their registered addresses in Bay Head.

“We are proud to stand with Bay Head voters, the League, and our partners at the ACLU of New Jersey in this first-ever lawsuit under the NJVEA,” said Omeed Alerasool, litigation counsel at the Harvard Election Law Clinic. “The Board’s actions here, just weeks before an election, offend core principles of democracy, and we are hopeful the court will be able to act promptly to preserve voters’ rights.”

The lawsuit seeks to vindicate the rights of the plaintiffs to ensure they can exercise their right to vote in the upcoming General Election on November 3. 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.

To learn more about voting in New Jersey, visit aclu-nj.org/vote or call the national Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) to speak with a trained volunteer.

View the complaint, temporary restraining order, and exhibits.