The bill was introduced by Assemblywoman Carol Murphy last month in response to controversy surrounding the Republican proposal to change the town’s local election, and it has moved with uncommon speed through the Legislature so that it can conceivably be considered by Gov. Phil Murphy before Mount Laurel’s governing body acts.
TRENTON — Legislation that could potentially block Mount Laurel from holding a referendum to switch its municipal election to nonpartisan status is not just for show.
The bill was introduced by Assemblywoman Carol Murphy last month in response to controversy surrounding the Republican proposal to change the town’s local election, and it has moved with uncommon speed through the Legislature so that it can conceivably be considered by Gov. Phil Murphy before Mount Laurel’s governing body acts.
The Mount Laurel Township Council is scheduled to next meet on June 24 to vote to adopt an ordinance that would place a referendum on the November election ballot asking voters to approve or reject the proposed change to nonpartisan.
In nonpartisan elections, candidates running for municipal offices do not run in the June primary and are not identified as either Democrat, Republican or third-party. Instead, candidates run on submitted slogans without their party affiliations being revealed.
Most nonpartisan towns hold their municipal elections separate from the November general election on the second Tuesday in May, but a 2010 state law allowed those towns to move their elections from May to November without losing the nonpartisan status, and Mount Laurel officials have said they intend to keep the election in November if voters approve the change to nonpartisan.
Murphy’s bill could conceivably stop the effort though. It would amend state law to specify that a referendum to change a municipal election to nonpartisan can only be initiated by a voter petition signed by at least 25% of the votes cast in a municipality during the last General Assembly election, or the approval of an ordinance by at least two-thirds of the full governing body.
Under the current law, a referendum can be initiated by 10% of the votes cast in the municipality at the last General Assembly election, or by a simple majority of the council.
In the last General Assembly election, held in 2017, Mount Laurel had 12,820 residents vote. Under Murphy’s proposal, 3,205 signatures or an affirmative vote by the township council of at least 4-1 would be needed to initiate a referendum.
The Mount Laurel ordinance was introduced last month by a 3-2 party line vote carried by the council’s three Republicans — Mayor Kurt Folcher, Councilman Irwin Edelson and Deputy Mayor Linda Bobo — who have embraced the potential change, arguing that the switch to nonpartisan elections will remove hyperpartisan politics from local issues and that local voters should have the right to decide how their council is elected.
The council’s two Democrats — Kareem Pritchett and Stephen Steglik — and other local and state Democratic officials, have said moving to nonpartisan status would suppress turnout and benefit Republicans by allowing them to hide their party affiliation when they are up for re-election next year alongside President Donald Trump.
Carol Murphy, who is the wife of Mount Laurel Democratic Committee chair Michael Muller, has been an outspoken opponent of the proposed election change in the township and succeeded in getting her bill fast-tracked to the chamber floors of the Assembly and Senate after she introduced it on May 20.
In a statement, the 7th District assemblywoman said lawmakers have a moral obligation to encourage voter participation and that she was proud her legislation has advanced so quickly.
“I’m proud that we have successfully moved this legislation to the floor in both houses because we must prevent the politicizing of the electoral process being attempted in Mount Laurel from happening anywhere in the State of New Jersey,” Murphy said. “If a municipality wishes to change their form of government to nonpartisan, where we see substantially lower voter participation and increased costs to the taxpayer, it is responsible to raise the standard to protect residents.”
The bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Troy Singleton, D-7th of Delran in the Senate, was advanced from both the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee without testimony on Thursday, clearing it for possible floor votes by the full Assembly and Senate this week when the two chambers meet.
If majorities in both chambers approve it, the bill would go to the governor to consider and could conceivably become law before Mount Laurel’s June 24 meeting.
It was unclear Friday if the legislation could impact Mount Laurel if it becomes law after the council has already initiated its referendum through a local ordinance. If that occurs, it would likely fall to a court of law to decide.
Folcher defended the majority on council’s push to switch to the nonpartisan form, arguing that it has worked well for the school board and fire districts. He said Murphy’s legislation could deny residents the opportunity to decide the issue at the poll.
“Unfortunately, Carol Murphy and the Democrat political machine that dominates New Jersey think its a game and they pursue victory at all costs and do not care about what it does to communities and the state. They obviously prefer a partisan local election that is decided on national issues rather than local issues. We don’t. We believe local elections should be about local candidates and that the power rests with the people and not party bosses or machines,” Folcher said Saturday. “It is pitiful that Carol is so partisan that she can rush a bill through the state Government to help her Mount Laurel Municipal Chair husband Michael Moeller that essentially takes power away from the people of Mount Laurel and everyone in the state at the same time.”
