NJ Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party are seeking to force the Senator's removal because of his support of health-care reform and past votes to increase government spending. Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells last fall rejected a notice from the groups that they planned to begin an effort to recall Menendez. According to state law, the secretary of state must approve a notice before a recall committee can begin collecting signatures on a petition.
Today's ruling opens the door for the recall process to proceed.
After the notice is approved, the committee then must secure the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters of the affected district before a recall election can be held. There were 5.2 million registered voters in November, meaning the committee would have to secure 1.3 million signatures.
The ruling itself can be found here (PDF format)
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The case — which puts the state in the unusual position of arguing against its own law and calling part of its constitution unconstitutional — began last fall after then-Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells rejected the committee’s notice that it intended to begin a recall effort against Menendez. The removal process requires the secretary of state to approve such a notice before a recall committee can begin generating petitions.
After the notice is approved, the committee then must secure the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters of the affected district before a recall election can be held. There were 5.2 million registered voters in November, meaning the committee would have to secure 1.3 million signatures.
That is a lot of signatures needed, but the court has just given the green light for them to start being collected.
Menendez does not come up for reelection until 2012, but Democrats in the House and Senate that are up for reelection in 2010 need to pay attention because it is becoming very clear that they will be held accountable for their votes come November and no amount of avoidance of that accountability is going to save their careers.
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