Democracy at one of its basic levels is taking a hiatus in Morris County. Both Republicans and Democrats have postponed county committee elections that usually take place in the June primary because of the ongoing pandemic.

Those holding committee seats will keep them until next year when an election will be held.

The move by both parties in Morris follows a statewide trend.

Some have criticized county committee election postponements elsewhere in New Jersey as an affront to democracy.

The critics may be technically correct, but the reality is that the county committee is an internal political organization.

If municipal governing bodies postpone elections and allow sitting members to continue beyond their terms, that’s a problem. But the feeling here is allowing county committee members to extend their
terms by one year during a health emergency is not.

Given the fact there are two county committee members in each voting district, party leaders say devising in many cases hundreds of vote-by-mail ballots would be overly cumbersome.

It makes sense to postpone, but political purists have to be dismayed there won’t be any acrimonious, neighborhood fights on primary day.