Bateman Blasts Governor’s Voting Decree

‘The Mail Box is Not the Ballot Box’

New Jerseyans will not be able to vote in person in November under an executive order signed last week by Governor Murphy.

“The mail box is not the ballot box,” said Senator Kip Bateman. “Voting, in person voting, is the centerpiece of our freedom, but in Murphy’s New Jersey, residents cannot go to the polls this fall for a presidential election and vote in person. That baseless decision shuns tradition and defies our American rights, chipping away at the essence of our democracy.”

The unilateral decree is just the latest of a series of Murphy edicts utilizing the unbridled authority he granted to himself when he declared a State of Emergency and Public Health Emergency on March 9.

“This is an overreach by a Governor using the pandemic as a license to rewrite our laws,” Bateman said. “Residents can’t stand in line a few minutes to cast their vote, yet they are forced to line up for hours in overcrowded Motor Vehicle Agencies to renew paperwork or register a car.

“This action isn’t about health risks, it’s about ideology. Men and women of all colors shed blood, sweat and tears to fight for the right to vote, and that sacred right is being adulterated by this order that exposes the entire election process to the flaws and vulnerabilities of voting by mail. Our residents should be voting in person, unless they choose the mail-in alternative.”