New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have made it easier to vote in the state. The election reform bill, known as the Democracy Act, has the support of voting rights advocates and guaranteed two weeks of in-person early voting, including on weekends. The system would have ensured automatic registration of residents of New Jersey when they got a driver's license or state ID, thus establishing an online voter registration system.
"New Jersey taxpayers deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars spent on thinly-veiled political gamesmanship and the State must ensure that every eligible citizen's vote counts and is not stolen by fraud," read a statement by the governor, according to Huffington Post.
The press release announcing Christie's veto said the bill "represents a manifest attempt to use election reform for political gain rather than a genuine bipartisan effort to further improve the State's election system," according to the Huffington Post.
"Most of these things have been moved and adopted in other states successfully. It's just mind-bending that a governor of a state would be against every single one of his citizens having full ease and access to participate in the voting process," said Analilia Mejia, director of New Jersey Working Families, reports Occupy Democrats.
"Automatic registration is good for the country, and good for New Jersey. The Democracy Act would have made our registration lists more accurate and up to date, and voting more flexible and convenient. We are extremely disappointed Governor Christie chose to veto a bill with these kinds of proven benefits. Instead of passing laws that make it harder for Americans to vote, lawmakers must work to modernize our voting system for the 21st century," said Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, reports MSNBC.
