Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Last Day to Register for Nov. 8 Election!

Need to register to vote in the Nov. 8 general election? Today is the last day to register and City Clerk Abubakar Jalloh's office will be open from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. for voter registration. The office is on the first floor of City Hall, 515 Watchung Ave.

You can download a voter registration form at this link:
http://www.plainfieldnj.gov/docs/voterregapp.pdf

A week or so after registration is closed, the Union County Board of Elections will post voter affiliation numbers. Before the June primary, there were 13,071 Democrats, 836 Republicans and 8,268 unaffiliated voters, along with three Libertarians, five Green Party members and six more in three groups whose abbreviations I did not understand. The total number of registered voters for the primary was 22,202.

Democrats dominate in Plainfield. For the Feb. 5 presidential primary in 2008, there were 8,553 Democrats and 1,034 Republicans. By the 2012 primary, Democrats numbered 11,992 and this year the Democratic ranks for the primary swelled to 13,071, while only 836 Republicans remained.

There are two Democratic campaign offices in Plainfield currently. Assemblyman Jerry Green, who is also the Union County Democratic Party chairman, has election headquarters at 633 Park Avenue. Although signs urge Democrats to vote Column A, Green's list of candidates starts at county freeholders and goes up to Hillary Clinton.

Mayor Adrian O. Mapp, who is the Plainfield Democratic Party chairman, has campaign headquarters at 31 Watchung Avenue and volunteers can work for City Council candidates Rebecca Williams and Charles McRae as well as the rest of Column A. There will be a "debate watch party" Wednesday at that location.

No Republicans filed for City Council. Williams is running unopposed for the Citywide at-large council seat. McRae is running for the Third Ward seat, with a challenge from former Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who filed as an independent candidate, though her Facebook campaign page features a photo with Bill Clinton.
Sharon Robinson Briggs's Profile Photo
Political observers have called the presidential choices the most problematic in many years. With Democrats 13 to 1 over Republicans, the main task here will likely be getting out the vote for the dominant party.

Three weeks to go! Look for your sample ballot in the mail and check your polling place and hours. Make up your mind and vote on Nov. 8!

--Bernice

3 comments:

  1. How come no pictures with the union county chairman. And don't say oh he's not running neither is bill Clinton.

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  2. Why is councilman Goode in photo he's not running? Or is that a new dem promo photo?

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  3. Hi Bernice, there is only one official democratic headquarters in Plainfield and it’s located at 31 Watchung Ave. This is where all democratic committee members should come and volunteer in support of the democratic line.

    ReplyDelete