Trump Campaign Sues NJ, Gov. Murphy, Over Mail-In Ballots

NEW JERSEY - President Donald Trump's campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican Party, filed suit late Tuesday saying that Governor Phil Murphy's vote-by-mail executive order violates citizens' right to vote.

Similar suits were filed in Nevada and Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit alleges that "in his haste, the governor created a system that will violate eligible citizens’ right to vote. By ordering universal vote-by-mail, he has created a recipe for disaster. Fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment."

The lawsuit also mentions a voter fraud case in Paterson from May where a councilman and a councilman-elect, and two others, face charges.

Murphy spoke about that case on CNN, saying it was a specific and isolated incident, and added Paterson showed how law enforcement was closely watching for any issues.

Murphy announced last week that every voter will be mailed a ballot weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The step is being taken as New Jersey continues to deal with the effects of the coronavirus.

The Murphy administration is also suing the US Postal Service because of agency's overtime and service cuts could impact the election. Read more: NJ Politicians Call For Action On USPS Funding Crisis

In his remarks, Murphy referenced that the changes made for primary election July 7 were largely, if not overwhelmingly, successful.

"Every vote should be safe. Every vote be secure. Every vote should be count," Murphy said.
Murphy said he's taking these steps since President Donald Trump has criticized mail-in balloting, and he admitted in a Fox Business interview Thursday that he's withheld funding from the Postal Service because he's afraid it will give too much of an advantage to the Democrats.

In New Jersey, vote-by-mail will work like this:

• Murphy said every voter will be mailed a ballot that they can fill out and mail back. Because of delays in U.S. Postal Service deliveries, however, election advocates advise people to send them back no later than Oct. 22.
• The ballots will be mailed by Oct. 5. You will receive it from your county clerk.
• You will not receive a sample ballot this year.
• Mail-in ballots must bear a postmark on or before Election Day or they won't be counted. They must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 10.
• Drop boxes will be set up if you'd rather avoid the U.S. Postal Service. You can find drop boxes here, but Murphy plans to expand the number of them.
• Murphy said people can also submit the voter-by-mail ballot at a polling place on Election Day.
• Ballots that lack postmarks because of postal error need to be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 to be counted.
• Schools with in-person instruction will close on Election Day.
• If you do vote in person, you will be given a provisional paper ballot. Murphy told CNN on Friday morning that the state is taking this step "because the folks won't necessarily know at the voting location whether or not you have already mailed a ballot in."

This post contains reporting by Tom Davis.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.