Background

In August 2026, the GOP President of Bay Head, New Jersey, requested that the Ocean County Board of Elections remove several independent and Democratic voters from the voter rolls because they purportedly receive their tax bills at addresses outside the county. Although a tax bill mailing address is not determinative of voting eligibility, the Board’s chairman (who also serves as chairman of the Ocean County Republican Party) sent letters to the independent and Democratic voters listed in the letter in September 2026, warning that their ability to vote in the November 2026 election and future elections was at risk. The Board did not target Republican voters in similar circumstances. The Board instructed the targeted voters to complete an onerous and intrusive “Domicile Questionnaire” and to attend the Board’s October 13 meeting in order to defend their right to vote in Bay Head. 

Partnering with the ACLU of New Jersey, the Election Law Clinic brought suit against this unlawful targeting and threatened disenfranchisement, alleging that the Board’s actions constitute voter intimidation under the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey and also violate the New Jersey Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under law and its protection against undue burdens on the fundamental right to vote.  

After Defendants conceded at a hearing held on October 13, 2026, that a tax bill mailing address is not, on its own, determinative of a voter’s eligibility, and clarified that the Board would not be making any eligibility decisions at the meeting held on the same day or be requiring any targeted voters to vote by provisional ballot, the court denied Plaintiffs’ order to show cause with temporary restraints. 

The lawsuit remains live through the upcoming November elections, after which the court will hold a status conference regarding Defendants’ pending motion to dismiss.