GOP Voter Suppression (Again!)

by: deciminyan

Sat Dec 03, 2011 at 08:37:31 AM EST

Shelley Lovett was such a candidate in the recent election, a Republican running for Assembly from the Fourth Legislative District in Gloucester County. While she lost to political neophyte Gabriela Mosquera, Lovett was the kind of Republican we need in Trenton. When I met with Lovett back in October, she said "public education is the most important thing we can give our children" - heresy in the Christie religion.  Lovett was open to the idea of giving voters a say in the establishment of charter schools and had concerns about the use of standardized tests in teacher evaluation as proposed by Governor Christie's "reforms." Lovett's Assembly running mate, Pat Fratticcoli, is also a member of that dying breed of moderate Republicans, and had either one been elected, I would not have been disappointed.

I was surprised to read that Lovett is filing a lawsuit to nullify Mosquera's election. Lovett's lawyers assert that Mosquera does not meet the residency requirements because the newly-elected Assemblywoman, an immigrant from Ecuador who became a US citizen at age 18, has not lived in the district long enough.

It seems that Republicans believe in the electoral system only when they come out on top. The stealing of the 2000 presidential election is the epitome of their belief. Chris Christie's lieutenant governor's stripping long-time New Jersey resident Carl Lewis from the ballot is another. Republican voter suppression efforts in Ohio, Florida, and across the nation are legendary.

Unlike the Carl Lewis case in the Eighth District, the voters in the Fourth District had a choice. Lovett brought up the residency issue during the election, but the voters opted for Mosquera by a wide margin. If Lovett wanted to pursue this in the courts, she should have done so prior to the election.  She claims she didn't have the money for a lawsuit then, but her lawyers are working pro bono, so that rationale rings hollow.

Secretary of State Kim Guadagno should do the right thing this time, and certify Mosquera's election at the earliest possible time. And I encourage Lovett to stay the moderate course and help bring the GOP back into the real world. Both of these women represent the type of person we need in Trenton.