After publishing my piece this morning about how Assemblyman Milam had disregarded my plea for help, lo and behold, Milam responded. He sent me the following.
Dear Mr.Owens,
First let me apologize for not getting back to you sooner.I have been trying to gather information on both the County & State level in order to answer your question. According to Bob Giles, Director of the New Jersey Division of Elections, there was a 2003 opinion released from the Attorney General’s office prohibiting photography within a polling place.This was their interpretation of statute 19-15-8. I have included his contact information at the end of this email,
Sincerely,
Matt Milam
In addition, below please find the information i was able to obtain from http://citmedia.org/blog/?s=photo+polling.
New Jersey law prohibits more than one person from entering a polling booth, or for anybody to reveal their marked ballot to another person. These prohibitions mean that you cannot film or photograph another person as he is marking his ballot in the voting booth, and you cannot film or photograph your own marked ballot. New Jersey also prohibits any loitering, interference, electioneering, or solicitation of any voters. This means any photography or filming that occurs within the polling place can be stopped if it is judged to violate any of these restrictions. Each county board of election makes its own regulations, which will vary from county to county.
From: http://citmedia.org/blog/?s=photo+polling
New Jersey
• Contact Information:
o New Jersey Division of Elections
o Telephone number: (609) 292-3760
o Toll-Free Hotline: (877) NJVOTER
o E-mail: njelections@lps.state.nj.us
• Relevant Law:
o N.J. Stat. § 19:15-8 – Persons allowed in polling places
o N.J. Stat. § 19:15-26 – Ballots marked secretly in booth; no more than one voter in booth at a time; violation disorderly persons offense
o N.J. Stat. § 19:32-48 – Removal of persons from polling places
o N.J. Stat. § 19:34-6 – Prohibited actions in polling place on election day
o N.J. Stat. § 19:34-7 – Violation of ballot regulations
o Link to New Jersey Statutes (choose Title 19, Elections)
Sigh . . . it’s a circle dealing with these folks. The letter Milam referenced was addressed last June. If the good assemblyman had paid attention back in September, he would have recalled that I found this letter lacking. That was my purpose of contacting my lawmaker.
As a lawmaker, Milam should be privy to the laws and be able to enact legislation. Shoot, that is the one good thing our three representatives have been good for, pushing bills.
Instead Milam is rehashing what I already have on my plate. He then went on to point me to the “pertinent” laws. Of course, the laws do not state photography is prohibited. Only some letter written to a Monmouth County Board of elections Official states that. Even if that does have jurisdiction to my case, I want a law to override this silliness. My lawmaker is not putting that on the table.
Why would a legislator think rehashing information I already have is helping a constituent?
Longtime readers know one of my ongoing battles is being able to take photographs at the polling place. I have had nothing but run-ins over the years. Last September, I approached Assemblyman Milam about my problem. He promised to help. I never heard back regarding that issue.
A few weeks ago I noticed that Mr. Milam is now on Facebook. I took that opportunity to remind him of my plight. I sent him a message reminding him of the issue and my desire to take photographs in today’s school board election. Milam responded:
thank you for contacting me, i will check with my staff to see where we stand with this issue,
i’ll be in touch,
Thank you again,
Matt
The election is today, I have heard nothing from my elected representative. So much for I’ll be in touch.
While I fully admit this is not the most pressing issue ever for an assemblyman, it is an issue that he has had on his plate since September. He has produced absolutely nothing. Can you name one thing Milam has done since September for any constituent?
Milam is not serving his constituents. Remember this next time he begs for your vote.
Massachusetts is a blue state. Edward Kennedy has held a seat in the US Senate since 1962. This seat was held by his brother John prior to being elected president. Ben Smith held the seat for two years between the Kennedy brothers. The second Senate seat from Massachusetts has been Democratically held since Paul Tsongas won in 1979. He was preceded by John Kerry. All ran for POTUS, interestingly.
Martha Coakley is the Attorney General of Massachusetts. She’s a Democrat trying to fill the Senate seat vacated by Edward Kennedy who died last year. This should be a slam dunk win for her. Until recently, it was.
Why has the Brown v. Coakley race become so close?
She has had an embattled tenure as AG. She refuses to investigate the Mayor of Boston. She did not recommend to commute the sentence of a man thought to be innocent by most, and she did not reprimand District Attorneys who falsely testified about medical marijuana.
The other day Candidate Coakley stated during a debate with her opponent that there were no terrorists in Afghanistan.
Last evening Coakley was interviewed on a Boston radio station and stated that Curt Schilling, who has endorsed her opponent, was a Yankees fan.
For those who don’t know, Schilling is the pitcher who pitched famously for the Boston (Massachusetts) Red Sox in 2004 (remember the bloody sock?), who won the World Series for the first time since 1918 when Babe Ruth played for them.
Coakley is clearly flawed. So much so that President Obama is flying at taxpayer expense tomorrow to campaign for her. He has already released his endorsement on the ‘Net.
So, who’s her opponent? At this point, with the election just a few days away, it doesn’t much matter. Unfortunately, for those in Massachusetts, this election has escalated to a referendum on President Obama. It is no longer an election for representation of citizens. Barney Frank, also from Massachusetts, has even stated that is Coakley loses the race, Obama’s helathcare bill is sunk.
it’ll kill the health bill
This is how politics are fought these days. Representing constituencies is no longer the goal; rather, building national power within the federal government is the aim. Folks have conveniently forgotten that the federal government exists and has power solely because the states (and Commonwealths) ceded power in some specific areas. Healthcare wasn’t one of them.
I look forward to an ass-kicking a homerun on Tuesday to send a clear message (because folks have already forgotten the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia) that we are not going to accept the assault upon our rights that the Obama Administration is waging against the Constitution.
Just took a look at the Groundspeak fora. It’s good that consistency prevails. The cesspool discussion area thrives. A namecalling thread egged on by Mr. O’Connell makes elementary school look mature in comparison . . . It seems that despite property taxes rising more than 9% in Chicago this year, the Obama’s house will only see a rise of 1% in property taxes . . . The nearest unfound shutterspot to me is 177km. After this week, I hope the nearest one will be 322km . . . the latest New Jersey gubernatorial poll has Christie up 47-41 over Corzine. While that is good, I hope that does not provide comfort for those who want to vote their conscience for Daggett at the expense of Christie. I am not a diehard Christie fan, but it is important to remove Corzine from office . . . Alas, it does not look good for my Phillies. The bats have been too quiet. I’ll give the Yankees credit for that. Our pitching has not been spectacular either, but the bats are the main concern . . . FWIW, my children put such a smile on my face! I love you two . . .
eCache readers may recall my run-in at the polling place in June. I have been banned from taking photographs at the polling place. Of course, there is no law that prevents it. As far as I can tell, there is no ordinance, resolution, guideline, etc. that prevents it. What we have is a Board of Elections officer who has issued an edict and a vigilant pollster who enforces it. The best that can offered is that some lawyer wrote a letter to elections officer in Monmouth County six years ago. Of course, there is very little context provided in the letter that explains the “ruling”.
At a break during the 1 September Millville City Commission meeting I spoke with Matt Milam about this issue. He and his staff are looking into it. Milam was sympathetic to the issue. He asked me to follow up via e-mail. I did and shared the kinds of photographs I wanted to take. I also shared numerous photographs of New Jersey politicians and citizens at the polls.
Ever looking after her son, my mother e-mailed me a url this morning. The Polling Place Photo Project looks to be an outstanding project. The project is just what it sounds like: photographs taken at the polls. New Jersey is well-represented.
In today’s society where virtually every cellphone has a camera, banning photography at public events is not only impractical, but nonsensical.
We’ll see what Milam turns up before the November election. I’ll be certain to document it in photographs.
