>By Peggy Ackermann/Statehouse Bureau
March 16, 2010, 10:13AM
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/court_says_nj_tea_party_cannot.html
A state appellate panel today ruled New Jersey’s secretary of state must accept a petition a citizens group filed to recall U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.
The court stayed its decision to allow Menendez (D-N.J.) to appeal its ruling.
NJ Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party have said they want Menendez, (D-N.J.) recalled from office because he votes for too much government spending.
• Tea Party group seeking to recall Sen. Robert Menendez appears before N.J. appeals court
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.
Menendez lawyer Marc Elias argued that the petition drive should be halted because voters do not have the right to recall a federal lawmaker under the U.S. Constitution.
Menendez will be up for re-election in 2012.New Jersey Real-Time News
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https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/court_says_nj_tea_party_cannot.html
