Litigation Moves Forward to Challenge Unconstitutional Restrictions on Political Participation

MORRISTOWN, NJ – The New Jersey Moderate Party, voters and candidates will appeal a ruling in In re Malinowski, where the Appellate Division upheld state anti-fusion laws imposing strict limits on nominations and voting. As other courts have recognized, these restrictions suppress political participation for voters unhappy with the two major parties, and therefore burden fundamental constitutional rights. An appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court will be filed soon.

The legal action was brought by the Moderate Party of New Jersey, Wolfe and two other moderate voters – all current or former Republicans. In 2022, the Moderate Party sought to nominate Tom Malinowksi as its candidate for Congress. The NJ Secretary of State denied the nominating petitions under the state’s anti-fusion laws because Malinowski was also the nominee of the Democratic Party. In response, the Moderate Party and these voters sued the NJ Secretary of State, asking the court to recognize the unconstitutionality of the Secretary’s decision under New Jersey’s expansive constitutional protections.

Richard Wolfe, a founder of the NJ Moderate Party, the former Republican mayor of East Amwell Township and also involved in the case, said, “We’re continuing our legal action to ensure the fundamental rights of our party, our candidates and New Jersey voters are respected and our State Constitution is honored.”

Wolfe elaborated on the stakes – and opportunities – presented by the litigation:

“The New Jersey Moderate Party wants to reverse the trend of hyper-polarization and the danger it poses to our state and our country. To achieve this objective, we need to identify, nominate, support and help elect viable moderate candidates who will strive to protect the basic foundations of our democracy and are willing to work collegially and respectfully with people of different viewpoints, to achieve sensible solutions to the major issues facing our country. Current New Jersey law bars us from exercising our constitutional rights to do that. We are confident the State Supreme Court will right that wrong.”

Robert Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus at the Rutgers University School of Law and a recognized expert on state constitutional law, said, “The New Jersey Constitution has long been a bulwark against efforts to erode individual rights or limit political participation. Our Supreme Court will have an opportunity to affirm this important principle when it takes up this case.”