Katie Brennan Slams Ballot Design Bill as Another Attempt to Manipulate Voters

Jersey City — On Thursday, New Jersey lawmakers introduced new ballot design legislation (S4142) that gives county clerks broad discretion over how to group candidates together, creating new advantages for candidates running together on the same slate. In response to the new proposal, Assembly candidate Katie Brennan releases the following statement: 

“This proposal is another attempt to rig the ballot, manipulate voters, and make it harder for challengers to run against those already in power. Instead of designing a fair ballot that lists each name the same way, this would create new visual cues and advantages for candidates running together on the same slate. This isn’t fair to independent candidates like myself, and it certainly isn’t fair to voters who deserve a real choice over who represents them. In the same way that candidates have the right to associate with one another, candidates should also have the right not to associate without being penalized on the ballot.

“I’m not sure who was advising lawmakers on this bill, but I encourage my Democratic colleagues to spend less time with them and more time talking to voters and the grassroots base of the party. Almost everyone I meet on the campaign trail is enraged with what Donald Trump and his allies are doing to our democratic institutions in Washington, and I worry about the message that this bill sends to everyone here in New Jersey. Voters want representatives focused on strengthening democracy and serving the public, not protecting their own power.”

For more information about Katie Brennan, visit: www.katiebrennanfornj.com