The Central Jersey Progressive Democrats are urging the Committee Members of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization (MCDO) to oppose the proposed by-laws changes which will radically change the process of electing members to the county committee and suppress the rights of Democratic and unaffiliated voters in the County.

A petition is currently being circulated and is being signed by voters of Middlesex County and supporters of democracy around the state. It calls for:

–NO RETROACTIVE EXTENSIONS OF TERMS FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS
–NO PREMATURE DELAY OF THE 2021 ELECTIONS AT THIS TIME
–NO RUSHED VOTES DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

“It is incomprehensible that any elected body would try to unilaterally alter the results of a previous election”, said Herb Tarbous, Vice-President of the Piscataway Progressive Democratic Organization and the Organization’s endorsed candidate for Middlesex County Clerk in the upcoming primary election. “The results of the election are clear. The folks on the committee were elected to a two-year term by the voters. Period.”

A letter circulated by the MCDO from Parliamentarian David Bander to Chair Kevin McCabe indicated the changes were inspired by the Republican Organization’s cancellation of their 2020 election.
The Good Government Coalition of New Jersey, an all-volunteer, non-partisan organization whose mission is “to strengthen democracy in NJ by working to bring greater transparency, accountability and participation in our state and local governments, urged Democratic Committee members to vote against the proposal in a letter posted on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“We are writing to urge you to maintain your commitment to voters who elected you to county committee last year, by voting NO on the proposed by-laws change that would set the term of the current committee to a 4-year term. Voters elected you to represent them for 2 years, and just like we would not allow a President or Governor to change their term while in office, no elected official should change their own term without bringing this to voters,” stated the group’s President, Yael Niv.

“I am very disappointed at this obvious power grab under the guise of pandemic needs, said Laura Leibowitz, MCDO Committee member from Piscataway’s Possumtown neighborhood and PPDO endorsed candidate for Piscataway At-Large Council. “There is no reason to halt an election for 2021 at this time. All politics is local politics, and this is not right for Middlesex County just as it would not be right at the state or national level.”

These bylaw changes will be discussed on the 6PM conference call, today April 29, 2020 and voted on next week by phone.