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Today (January 14), the New Jersey Senate will vote on a bill that aims to increase the number of nominating petition signatures required to place a measure on the state ballot. The proposal, which passed the Assembly last month, seeks to raise the signature threshold from 1,000 to 2,500 for primary elections and from 800 to 2,000 for general elections. Additionally, the bill would more than double the number of signatures needed for candidates for the U.S. House and State House and Assembly candidates, increasing from 200 to 500 and from 100 to 250, respectively.
Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald introduced the bill, with State Senators James Beach and Paul Sarlo sponsoring it in the Senate. Greenwald explained that the bill aims to reduce the number of "unserious and frivolous candidates" who complicate ballot design and confuse voters. He stated, "Too many unserious and frivolous candidates that lack support from their community complicates ballot design, provides opportunity to confuse and misdirect voters away from candidates who have the support of their community, and erodes voter confidence in elected representative democracy" according to New Jersey Globe.
The bill also proposes changes to signature requirements for county, municipal, and school board candidates. The Senate is expected to make adjustments to a section of the bill that inadvertently lowered signature requirements for countywide offices. If passed, the bill would align New Jersey's signature requirements more closely with those of neighboring states like Pennsylvania and New York, which have higher thresholds. The bill's passage would bring New Jersey's requirements closer to those of its peer states, although still below states like California and Colorado.