The Hudson County Republican Party is backing a bill that would require voter ID in light of Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) saying she would sign the legislation if it reaches her desk.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We couldn’t be happier to support State Senator Michael Testa’s efforts to get legislation passed in support of Governor Sherrill’s desire to implement voter ID,” Hudson County GOP Chair Jose Arango said in a statement.
“We may not agree with the governor on many things, but by taking this position on an issues that 80% of the people agree with she is taking a stand for the people, we approve and applaud her.”
Bill S-1733, sponsored by state Senator Parker Space (R-24), calls for anyone seeking to cast a ballot in New Jersey to have to present a valid passport, driver’s license, or Real ID.
Unsurprisingly, Testa, a fellow Republican, came out in support of the bill on Monday in an interview with the New Jersey Monitor, but the real shock is that Sherrill, a Democrat, said she would sign the bill if it cleared the legislature in a segment on News 12.
“If the law passed here, I would support that, I don’t have a problem with voter ID. I think it gets a little conflated sometimes with the SAVE [America] Act, which is the federal piece of legislation that you often here about,” the governor, a former congresswoman, said.
“That is a voter suppression piece of legislation, some of that wants people to go through the SAVE database, you might have heard of that, that’s where Texas, all the irregularities and the people who were not in the SAVE database who should’ve been, I think they identified a couple thousand people that they had concerns about looking into. I’m very opposed to the SAVE Act …”
Sherrill’s remarks came about a week-and-a-half after she announced that 6,600 non-citizens were registered to vote in New Jersey between June 2023 and June 2024, with less than 400 voting during that time.
She has since said that the state has taken swift action to remove non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls.
Jersey City GOP Co-Chairs Boris Ioffe and Choudhri Hussain also came out in favor of Space’s bill.
“This action will restore integrity and public trust in the New Jersey electoral process. Therefore, we support Governor Sherrill’s initiative and this bipartisan action,” Ioffe added.
“I could not be more supportive of this effort as it finally seems people from both parties and all political persuasions are willing to work together on this issue,” Husain noted.
This is the correct move but is still the bare minimum necessary to restore public confidence in the system, closing the barn door after all the horses ran out.
How illegal aliens suppose to vote for HCDO?
Will this bill pass in the joint legislature? IF not, the Governor has an escape hatch — let’s hope she does not have to use it.
I worked as a “challenger” in Hoboken for many years — and the games being played were the stuff of legend. A few folks got “pinched” — but today we would call that voter suppression.
Typically, the Trump folks are taking this too far — let’s do what’s right for New Jersey.