Voter Mis-Education?

The windows of a Park Avenue storefront are completely filled with these signs, which on a quick glance appear to be for Republicans. I thought maybe the Booker campaign had moved out and the Republicans had moved in. Passing by on foot, I took a closer look. Under the large-print names, it says, "VOTE NO."

OK, so the signs are against the Republicans. So let's break it down a little further. The only time voters can vote "no" is when there is a question on the ballot requiring a "yes" or "no" response. The line for candidates just requires selecting the candidates you want.

Heaven forfend that some unsuspecting Democratic voter should think that by pushing a button next to the names of Campbell or Lonegan, they are voting "no."

Furthermore, this sign conflates two different election dates. The contest between Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan to fill the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg's Senate seat is on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The Assembly race is on the November 5 general election ballot, along with numerous other contests for governor, state Senate, county freeholders, Plainfield mayor and more.

Why single out the Assembly race? Could it be because Assemblyman Jerry Green, who is also chairman of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee and the Union County Democratic Committee, is running for re-election to the Assembly? Green is also a proponent of the theory that one can vote "no" for a candidate, as noted in this blog post.

The Union County Democratic Committee paid for the signs. Why not start with the top of the ticket and tell people to "vote no" for Christie, if that's the way he thinks it works?

Most people are driving by this storefront and they may only recall the large-print names of the Republicans. The small-print "VOTE NO" message, however misguided, may not even register with the thousands of people passing by in cars. Oh well, as some Republican supposedly once said, "A bad strategery is better than no strategery at all."

--Bernice

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