Pallone Convenes NJ Voting Rights Leaders as Trump Escalates Attack on Free Elections

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today convened voting rights advocates, civil rights leaders, and policy experts to outline what’s at stake as President Trump and Republicans continue to put barriers between Americans and the voting booth. 

At the roundtable held at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Pallone outlined how Trump’s so-called SAVE America Act and recent executive actions targeting mail-in voting would fundamentally alter New Jersey’s election system – ending online and mail-in registration, requiring proof of citizenship, and inserting new federal authority into state-run elections.

“Voting is a right that generations of Americans have fought to secure and expand, from the civil rights movement to the passage of the Voting Rights Act,” said Pallone. “For decades, Democrats have been focused on opening the process up and making sure every eligible citizen can participate. What President Trump is proposing moves in the opposite direction by adding new hurdles and making it harder to register and vote. Why? Because Republicans feel they have to cheat to win. Well, I have news for President Trump: we are not going to walk back the progress we’ve made on voting rights – not now, not ever.”

Participants included Erik Cruz Morales of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey; Bruce Morgan of the NAACP New Brunswick Area Branch; Reggie Johnson of the NAACP Edison Area Branch; Maura Collingsgru of New Jersey Citizen Action; Nuzhat Chowdhury of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; and DaWuan Norwood of ACLU-NJ. The panelists warned that Trump’s proposed changes would fall hardest on seniors, married women, military families, and working residents who may face new hurdles in accessing required documentation.

“What we are seeing from this administration is not a coincidence, it is a strategy. A deliberate effort to suppress voter participation across diverse communities. From the SAVE Act to new barriers to voting access and renewed attacks on the Census, these moves are about silencing voters and distorting representation,” said Erik Cruz Morales, Director of Democracy at the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “They know that when people vote, and when everyone is counted, the people hold power. And that power is exactly what’s at stake. The League and our members will continue fighting for a strong, multiracial democracy that empowers communities.”

"We’re facing an administration bent on dismantling our democracy,” said Nuzhat Chowdhury, Director of the Democracy & Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. "Whether it’s the anti-democratic SAVE America Act, the demand for private data of voters including here in New Jersey, or rhetoric aimed to foment distrust in our elections, the moment for action could not be more urgent. We must all fight for our democracy together, and that includes passing a New Jersey voting rights act immediately."

"The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act is a solution in search of a problem. Despite no evidence of widespread fraud, President Trump and the GOP treat potential voters with suspicion and seek to upend longstanding registration practices that make voter participation more accessible.  If enacted, this Act will upend decades of voting rights wins, disenfranchise millions and weaken our democracy,” said Maura Collinsgru, Director of Policy & Advocacy, New Jersey Citizen Action.

"We thank Congressman Pallone for convening advocates for this important discussion on voting rights. ACLU-NJ is committed to protecting and expanding voting rights for New Jerseyans. The ongoing threats to democracy at the federal level underscore the need for statewide protections and the swift passage of the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey,” said DaWuan Norwood of ACLU-NJ.

"Voting and participating in the electoral process is the armor we wear to save our democracy,” said Bruce S. Morgan, President New Brunswick Area Branch NAACP.

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