Sanders Chairs Call on Governor Murphy to Enact All Vote By Mail Primary

Chairs of the New Jersey for Bernie 2020 campaign Larry Hamm, Patricia Campos Medina and Barry Brendel today called on Governor Murphy to enact an all Vote By Mail election for the July 7^th primary election, as other states have done successfully.

“In the midst of the largest public health crisis in our country’s history, it is only prudent to limit exposure to this uniquely deadly virus. We have the wherewithal to hold a primary that provides everyone a chance to vote while limiting exposure to Covid 19. If we save only one life – and we will save more than that – we owe it to each other to do so.” The Chairs said.

“Over 1.321,000 voted in the last presidential primary. Why would we risk potentially exposing 1 out of every 7 people in our state to risk – on the same day – when there is a safe alternative?” the Chairs continued.

“We believe that that a vote-in-person primary in this public health climate discriminates against, minorities, the elderly, people with immune compromising disabilities such diabetes, cancer, etc., the poor and people who live in urban areas,” the Sanders campaign chairs charged.

“For example, the elderly are most at risk of contracting Covid 19 and are most at risk of dying as a result.  An in-person election puts our seniors at risk of exposure or worse. Any measures the government would try to enact would be imperfect, at best. A senior’s choice is don’t vote or risk exposure.

Further, most poll workers are elderly themselves.  So, one, they are going to be reluctant to work the polls on election day and two, they are exposing themselves to close contact (the width of a table) with hundreds of people. We know how voting goes. You walk in, give them your name and bend over the table with the worker inches away and sign the book. Even with a mask, which will be another issue, the risk of exposure is great.

Since it is always tough to get enough poll workers and, since seniors will be reluctant to work under these conditions, the state will inevitably open less polling places. This has already been publicly discussed.

We know what happens when polling places are closed. The poor, minorities and people who live in urban areas disproportionately have their polling places closed. So, now, a large number of these people will have to get on buses to get to the new location. Social distancing is problematic on a crowded bus – assuming that everyone on the bus is wearing a mask to begin with.

Additionally, a number of county organizations have moved their county committee elections to next year or beyond as a result of the Corona crisis. We can only conclude that if they believe it is too dangerous to hold a county committee election in-person they must also believe that holding an in-person election for president is, also, too dangerous. Any county organization that has moved its’ election has implicitly endorsed an all Vote-by-Mail primary. The governor should keep this in mind.”  the Chairs declared.

“Finally, let’s dispose of the false argument that vote-by-mail is vulnerable to fraud. Other states have done it successfully. Some do it routinely. Further, between the three of us we have nearly one hundred years of experience with in-person primaries. You will have a very hard time convincing us of the security of the current system,” they concluded.