After 30 years of voting, the Ocean County Federated Republican Women (OCFRW) were refused their vote on Tuesday February 25 at the at the Ocean County Republican Convention.

All women of Ocean County were disrespected and disenfranchised by the actions of George Gilmore, the Chair of the Ocean County GOP (OCGOP).

By being prohibited from voting, and being offered to have their dues returned, the OCFRW was temporarily expelled from the OCGOP without the required thirty (30) days notification, which thereby violated Article III, Section 1. F of the OCGOP By-Laws. Gilmore’s flawed rationale was that the OCFRW vote in the OCGOP convention would constitute candidate endorsement in opposition to the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) By-Laws. If Gilmore’s rationale were correct, every person voting at the convention would be making an endorsement before the primary election, which is considered a violation of Republican Party principles.

“The NFRW never intended for the endorsement prohibition to extend to intraparty races. This is made abundantly and unequivocally clear by the term ‘public office’ in both instances. By their very nature, intraparty elections are not ‘public’ elections…To vote in an intraparty election, especially one held by secret ballot, is clearly NOT a violation of the Endorsement policy, nor of the NFRW bylaws” per Theresa Kosmoski, Registered Parliamentarian and also former By-Laws Chair and Parliamentarian of the NFRW.

Vivian Vosbrinck, Chairwoman of the OCFRW stated, “The endorsement policy in question is not valid, nor the real reason for disallowing the OCFRW a vote. There must be another reason.”