Opinion ID: 2090954
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Territorial limitations on the right to vote.

Text: The problem at this juncture is whether the entire voting populace of the Township of Ocean or merely that portion of the electorate residing within the geographical boundaries of the new village has the right of suffrage in the special election. Here again, although the lawmakers failed to use precise words, the intention emerges unequivocally from a variety of sources. The application for the special election must be signed by persons owning at least one-fifth in value of the taxable real estate in the limits of the proposed village. N.J.S.A. 40:157-2. Notice of the hearing in the County Court is required to be posted in five of the most public places within the proposed village limits, the election is to be held at a convenient place within the proposed village, and the notice thereof is to be posted in five of the most public places within the proposed village limits, N.J.S.A. 40:157-3, 5; the court cannot appoint election officers unless they are legal voters in the proposed village, N.J.S.A. 40:157-6. These conditions point only in one direction, namely, that the election is to be held within the boundaries of the proposed village and that participation is to be limited to inhabitants who are qualified electors residing in that area. A particularly strong circumstance is the mandate that the voting must take place at a convenient place within the proposed village. It was conceded at the oral argument that there are seven election districts within the township. See N.J.S.A. 19:4-1 and 5. If the intention was to open the balloting to the entire township, the unlikelihood of the restriction to the single district within the seceding village is quite apparent.