The son of a candidate in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district will be allowed to vote in the Democratic primary after his attempt to register as a Democratic voter in January was not officially registered.
Matt Adams, a former two-term Middlesex Borough councilman and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps, is one of a dozen Democrats looking to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) in Congress. In January, his son attempted to update his address and switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party, and though the address change went through, he was not listed as a Democrat by the time primary day — today — came around.
It’s unclear exactly why the change had not been made official.
The son, whose name is being withheld by the New Jersey Globe, updated his registration via the mail, as did his stepmother. He said he could not recall which specific forms he had filled out, but that he had marked a desire to switch parties.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Jodi F. Bouer found that he had attempted to switch parties and that, because New Jersey’s laws are meant to be construed to favor enfranchisement, he should be allowed to vote in the primary.
“He was registered as a Republican and changed his registration to that of a Democrat so that he could vote for his father in the primary,” the judge said. “Very clearly, that was his intention; it was his [stepmother’s] intention, and it was very credible.”
Adams is expected to finish near the back of the pack in the NJ-12 primary. He has already filed to run as an independent, though New Jersey’s sore-loser laws could block him from reaching the ballot.