Non-partisan voters jump from the sidelines, into the fray
Over a thousand Plainfield voters who hadn't declared a political party affiliation turned Democrat on June 7 in order to vote in the primary election.
The hotly contested races for mayor and city council apparently spurred the whopping 17 percent increase in Democratic voters in order to have a say in the city's political future.
Unaffiliated voters can take part in primaries if they declare Republican or Democratic party membership on voting day. Numbers from the Union County Board of Elections show a shift of about 1,370 voters from unaffiliated to Democrat.
The change resulted in a 17 percent increase in the number of registered Democrats, from 7,878 just before the June primary to 9,250 presently. The change bucks a trend of several years of decline in registered Democrats and an upswing in unaffiliated voters. Since just before the primary to now, the number of unaffiliated voters dropped from 10,079 to 8,708, a 14 percent decrease.
Incumbent Mayor Albert T. McWilliams lost the race by 325 votes after being forced off the party line. Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who was given the Democratic line "Column A", won the primary and will be on the November 8 ballot in a mayoral contest with independent candidate Robert Ferraro and a Republican to be announced.
Republican candidate Cheryl Arana dropped out of the race due to family obligations. The party has until September 21 to fill the vacancy.
The hotly contested races for mayor and city council apparently spurred the whopping 17 percent increase in Democratic voters in order to have a say in the city's political future.
Unaffiliated voters can take part in primaries if they declare Republican or Democratic party membership on voting day. Numbers from the Union County Board of Elections show a shift of about 1,370 voters from unaffiliated to Democrat.
The change resulted in a 17 percent increase in the number of registered Democrats, from 7,878 just before the June primary to 9,250 presently. The change bucks a trend of several years of decline in registered Democrats and an upswing in unaffiliated voters. Since just before the primary to now, the number of unaffiliated voters dropped from 10,079 to 8,708, a 14 percent decrease.
Incumbent Mayor Albert T. McWilliams lost the race by 325 votes after being forced off the party line. Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who was given the Democratic line "Column A", won the primary and will be on the November 8 ballot in a mayoral contest with independent candidate Robert Ferraro and a Republican to be announced.
Republican candidate Cheryl Arana dropped out of the race due to family obligations. The party has until September 21 to fill the vacancy.
posted by Bernice at 5:30 PM
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