McCormick joins reformers opposed to ballot rigging

Democrat Lisa McCormick, whose dazzling performance in the last primary election for U.S. Senate made her New Jersey's leading progressive, has signed a pledge to oppose ballot rigging in the Garden State. A copy of the full text of that pledge follows this article.

"The folks at Cape May County Indivisible, a progressive grassroots collective, came up with this Pledge to Democratize New Jersey," said McCormick, who intends to make her plans for 2020 known in late March. "As you may know, I believe bracketing in primary elections is nothing less than ballot rigging or cheating."

"This pledge calls attention to an anti-Democratic structure unique to New Jersey Primary ballots, by getting candidates to publicly acknowledge the inequity and corruption enabled by the party line," according Kyle Aldrich, an Indivisible organizer who said five District 2 congressional candidates have signed on.

The candidates who signed the pledge are John Francis, Ashley Bennett, Will Cunningham, Amy Kennedy, and Robert Turkavage.

"When we talk about ‘machine politics’ in South Jersey – this is at the root of it. This is the exact ballot structure that billionaire party bosses exploit to control our elections," Indivisible organizer Cassandra Gatelein told Max Pizarro, of Insider NJ. “The candidates then become indebted to the party bosses, putting their desires before the needs of their constituents. This pledge is about putting power back into the hands of the people."

McCormick was the only New Jersey Democrat to challenge the incumbent U.S. Senator who had been indicted for bribery and corruption by the Obama administration's Justice Department, Robert Menendez. As part of her campaign, she made a frontal assault on "bracketing" by offering to share her line with any Democratic candidate who wanted to secure better ballot position.

McCormick said her candidacy was a chance for citizens to eliminate corruption that has pervaded government in New Jersey. She stunned observers by garnering 159,998 votes, or almost 40 percent, without spending more $5,000 on her all-volunteer, 'people powered' campaign.

McCormick said her website at www.lisamccormick.org has ways that other citizens can get involved or learn more.

"Ordinary citizens who want to run for elected office can get help, volunteers can be assigned tasks, donations may be submitted and there is news and information about our candidacy at www.lisamccormick.org so I invite everyone to take time to check it out," said McCormick, who said she is once again waging a people-powered campaign that refuses corporate contributions, NRA money or funds from the fossil fuel industry.

McCormick has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run for U.S. Senate again, but she said there are a dozen congressional seats at stake and hundreds of other offices at the county and local levels.

McCormick said she will announce her intentions in March, some time after St. Patrick's Day, but she has been vocal about the incumbent, Sen. Cory Booker.

"Cory Booker is part of the problem, as a loyal follower of the corrupt political system," said McCormick. "He put his arm around Trump collaborators like Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and George Norcross, then took their money while he pretends to be on our side. Cory is corrupt even though he is a good actor."

McCormick posted the following statement on various social media sites:

The folks at Cape May County Indivisible, a progressive grassroots collective, came up with this Pledge to Democratize New Jersey. https://cmcindivisible.wordpre...

As you may know, I believe bracketing in primary elections is nothing less than ballot rigging or cheating.

My website has had a section called, "Stop Rigging Ballots" and I have stated that I want to: "Prohibit candidates from ‘bracketing’ or otherwise giving anyone an unfair advantage with respect to ballot position." http://lisamccormicknj.nationb...

"Every American is entitled to equal protection of the law, so candidates picked by party bosses should not get preferential treatment in primaries."

I also stated my opposition to the practice when I ran for US Senate in the 2018 Democratic primary; https://newjerseyglobe.com/con...

As my campaign manager said, explaining that I would give full support to candidates who sue to break up a ‘regular’ organization line in any county, “Mounting a legal challenge to this unjust law would be be an attack on the heart of illegitimate power of New Jersey political bosses, and a good chance to show why you deserve the nomination of the party of the people. Win or lose in the election, this is a legal fight worth waging and winning for the people.”

I am on the same page as Cape May County Indivisible, and I am proud to endorse their pledge.

"Stop Rigging Ballots"

https://twitter.com/LisaMcCormickNJ/status/1228409500245352449

https://www.facebook.com/LisaMcCormickNJ/posts/3034117389945454

Here is the full text of the pledge:

Pledge to Democratize New Jersey

Recognizing that New Jersey is unique among states for its primary ballot structure featuring party lines defined by coordinated slogans;

Appreciating that the process for assigning the “party line” differs significantly between counties and that many Democratic county organizations assign candidates to the party line through anti-Democratic backroom deals;

Understanding that the result is a process which (1) suppresses the voices of democratically-inclined constituents, (2) gives inherent & disproportionate advantage to candidates on the party line, and (3) cultivates fertile ground for corruption of bosses who seek to preserve, perpetuate, and consolidate their power & influence by requiring candidates to pledge loyalty to those bosses and their desires rather than to their constituents and their needs;

Knowing that this enables a hegemonic and homogenous leadership structure that insulates political leaders, elected and unelected, from accountability to anyone but their bosses;

We, the undersigned, resolve to call for the end of the county line and to support ballot reform that embraces the spirit of open democracy and democratic values to compete in a transparent primary process in which there is no inherent advantage granted to a single candidate through the ballot structure and we engage solely on the merits of our respective experience, platforms, and ability to campaign effectively to win support and invite accountability from our constituents.