Sweeney And Coughlin Pull The Plug On Redistricting Amendment Vote
Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin announced that the redistricting amendment won’t be taken up for a vote on Monday. On Friday, the amendment had appeared on both chambers’ board lists for the voting sessions.
Before the announcement, Governor Murphy’s office had highlighted a NY Times editorial in opposition to the plan, and Murphy ally Senator Codey released a statement saying it would ‘move us backward, not forward’ and that the bill ‘as it stands is not in the best interest’ of the state. Several mayors also came out against it: Parsippany Mayor Soriano, Teaneck Mayor Hameeduddin, and Perth Mayor Mayor Diaz. Senate and Assembly Minority Leaders Kean and Bramnick on Friday called on the legislative leaders to pull the amendment from consideration.
Sweeney released the following statement Saturday evening:
“While we continue to recognize the importance of improving the legislative redistricting process, we will not be moving forward with the proposed ballot resolution on Monday. This will give us the time and opportunity to review the input we have received from the public, our legislative colleagues and others to determine if any of these ideas would improve the proposal.
“We recognize the importance of this issue. Redistricting provides the foundation for the democratic process and it gives voice to voters. We will maintain an open mind as we continue to work on a proposal that best serves the electoral process and the values of our democracy.”
Speaker Coughlin released the following statement: “I wish to thank Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, Senator Nick Scutari and my colleagues in both houses of the Legislature for their time and commitment to seeking out fair improvements to the redistricting process. I appreciate the input from the public and recognize the value of having open public hearings in crafting any legislation regarding such an important issue affecting our democracy. I want to integrate some of the valuable input received to help create a better measure and improve the redistricting process overall. So therefore, I will not post the redistricting resolution for a vote, but remain committed to strengthening our electoral process.”
After the vote cancellation announcement was made, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean released a statement, saying ‘this is a big win for the people of New Jersey. The proposed redistricting amendment would have disenfranchised millions of voters, taking away one of the most important rights we have as Americans: the power to choose who represents us in the halls of government.“This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Gerrymandering is wrong. We will remain vigilant, and fight back against any redistricting proposal that betrays democracy.
“I hope that this time, the sponsors will work with nonpartisan election experts and legislators on both sides of the aisle, so we can craft a redistricting proposal that we can all be proud of. The people we have the privilege of serving deserve no less than an amendment that ensures fair and equal representation for all’.
It was an unforced error by Sweeney and Coughlin – and it was good to see the number of different groups who otherwise rarely agree who came together to oppose this proposal.