A Somerset County man was granted the right to vote after a judge found that he had intended to continue voting when he moved from Hudson County last spring and changed his address at a state Motor Vehicles Commission office.
The voter said he waited from May to September to change his address because he was waiting to get a Real ID and wanted to combine everything into one trip.
Superior Court Judge Robert G. Wilson found the man to be credible and that his ruling was based on the voter’s intent.
“I find he made a good faith effort,” Wilson said. “It’s possible he did everything 100% right, and the error was on the part of the state of New Jersey.”
Deputy Attorney General Jessica Steinglass told Wilson that the MVC reported that the man had opted out of changing his voter registration when he changed his address. The man acknowledged the possibility that he had checked the wrong box around September 18, when he had his appointment, but also said he’d been a regular voter while living in Hunterdon County for 27 years.
The attorney general’s office took no position on whether the Somerset man should be permitted to vote.
Election officials said the new voter registration would be in the Statewide Voter Registration System by tomorrow morning, and that he could vote by machine either during the state’s early voting period or on Election Day.
“You guys are so nice,” the Somerset man said. “I was expecting this to be a lot rougher.”
Wilson appeared inclined to avoid disenfranchising voters, an outlook that may come from his pre-judicial life: he was a Somerville councilman for fifteen years before being nominated to the bench ten years ago.
The New Jersey Globe withholds the names of voters who appear before judges to protect their privacy.
Voters who feel they are being wrongfully disenfranchised have the right to make their case to a judge. This can be done remotely and arranged through the county Board of Elections.
