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Our work started with “Gluegate”

How did we end up making history in 2020 and writing three election bills and getting them all passed in one year, in time for our elections?

“Gluegate” happened in the 2019 General Election and that prompted us to do something about it. When we read the statutes and found out that ballots would be rejected if both the outer return envelope and the inner ballot envelopes were not sealed, we understood that the Chain of Custody was important. But we didn’t think it was fair to have ballots rejected through no fault of the voter since these were clearly proven in court by voters and poll workers that the adhesive on the envelopes would not stick. So, Dan researched and wrote our first piece of legislation in order to prevent it happening to voters again.

We are glad we did because in the 2020 General Election, this similar issue happened in the same county to one of our dearest volunteers and supporters. In her family of FIVE registered active voters, four of their mail-in ballots came without an adhesive strip at all on the inner ballot envelope. Had we not acted to amend the statute and push for the amendment, Stacey and her family would have had four out of five ballots rejected at no fault of their own.

So what’s next for 2021?

Here are just three priorities relating to this critical issue.

• We must write amendments to the Ballot Cure Act to require that Mail-in ballots with a detached Certificate of Mail-in Voter need to be able to be cured under the “missing signature” tenet of the law. This is the third highest reason for the rejection and we must protect the voters and their votes.

• We will research, study, and advocate for Voter-friendly intuitive Mail-in ballot designs that will reduce confusion on the components minimizing ballot rejection due to mistakes or misunderstanding.

• We will also advocate for a nonpartisan independent agency/board that acts as an overseer of New Jersey elections guarding the interest of voters and the sanctity of our elections.

We are truly grassroots: our small donors have funded 100% of our work since our founding. Donations allowed us to do work in 2020 and you determine how much of this work we can do in 2021. If what we have done and intend to do aligns with your values and interest, please be as generous as you always have been.

Please forward this email to friends who want to protect our democracy and help build our election infrastructure.