Thread: Ethnic requirement for N.J. election board

I was rather floored to come across this New Jersey statute:

19:6-1. Membership
The district boards in each election district shall consist of four members, except that where electronic voting systems are in use any election district in which there are more than 900 registered voters the district board shall consist of six members. The members shall be appointed by the county board of the county in which such election district is located, in the manner hereinafter provided.

In election districts in which the primary language of 10% or more of the registered voters is Spanish, the county board shall appoint two additional members who shall be of Hispanic origin and fluent in Spanish.

Amended by L.1974, c. 30, s. 1; L.1975, c. 316, s. 3, eff. Feb. 19, 1976.


While I can see the reasoning behind requiring officials to speak the language of the voters why is only Spanish specified? Shouldn't speakers of Hindi, Mandarin, or any non-English language also be required? Why are Spanish speakers singled out for special treatment? It also seems to be that having an ethnic requirement for any public job is not only repugnant to American values but a violation of Article 1 Section 4 of the New Jersey Constitution:

4. There shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; no religious or racial test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

I agree that this is shocking. I also agree that it is unlawful. It would be interesting to know who put this on the books and when. Also, why, what was the pressure applied if any? Who was the AG that allowed or overlooked this, both at state level and federal level. We need to know who to be careful of, and what motivations to avoid, if possible.

That is just unbelievable. How low our nation has sunk.

The language of this country is English. Everybody who attains citizenship status has to have a basic comprehension of our language.

IMO speaking our language in public is a miniscule price to pay for the benefits of being an American. And it is a sign of respect that we really should demand - or require, if that word is more acceptable.
************************************
Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Exactly. We need a 10 Year Moratorium on Immigration, and we need it now. You can't change most of these people, because we know they aren't coming here to be Americans, they're coming here to have their own little colonies and power bases that reflect their home countries, not ours. There is no point to it, no benefit from it, to continue knowing this when we see the costs and consequences, it just madness by people grabbers, no different than black friday shoppers. That is what our government has reduced itself to, and stuck US all with the costs and consequences of their crazed, bizarre alien grabber mentality. The people behind this are sick, mentally disturbed, probably from the fear of being beheaded by their PayPals if things go wrong for them.

Since only citizens can vote in Federal elections and the requirement for citizenship is English, it looks like they are setting up for an illegal ballot stuffing frenzy.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

Also, why, what was the pressure applied if any? Who was the AG that allowed or overlooked this, both at state level and federal level. We need to know who to be careful of, and what motivations to avoid, if possible.

According to the footnote it was last amended in 1975 so it is unlikely anyone involved in making the law is still active in the government.