Judge lets voter switch to defunct political party by motor vehicles vote

A Superior Court Judge allowed a Gloucester County woman to vote in the Democratic primary after he party registration was changed after a visit to the Division of Motor Vehicles to the Natural Law Party, which has been defunct since 2004.

The woman, whose name is being withheld to protect her privacy, told Judge Timothy Chell that she has been a Democrat since registering to vote in 2008 and didn’t know what the Natural Law Party was.

“The (deputy) attorney general called it an inadvertent mistake.  That’s one way to look at it. There may be other harsher ways to look at it,” Chell said.  “The setup at the motor vehicle computer screens — that maybe it’s not pronounced enough, it makes the folks that come there not enough aware that they’re doing something of some consequence if they don’t check a certain box.”

Today’s decision marked a change in messaging by the Election Day staff of Assistant Attorney General Susan Scott; unlike last week, the state did not vociferously fight to disenfranchise the voter.

Gloucester County Superintendent of Elections Stephanie Salvatore asked the judge to allow the woman to vote using a paper ballot.