By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

This year’s Presidential primary season is one of the most wide-open in recent memory.

With no incumbent president or vice president running for the first time in 56 years, there are plenty of candidates to choose from on both the Democratic and Republican sides.

New Jersey residents, who have traditionally had to wait until the nominee was all but decided before they cast their ballots, will have a big chance to have their say this year, as the primary for both parties will be held on February 5.

Registration is part of preparation
Cedar Crest, a retirement community in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock Township, is ready. Through the efforts of the Resident Advisory Council’s legislative committee, the vast majority of Cedar Crest’s residents are registered to vote. “People are very interested in everything that’s going on,”  says Janet Weingroff, chairperson of the legislative committee. Voting takes place at a designated area in the Village Square clubhouse.

At various times throughout the year, voter registration drives are held at Cedar Crest, and volunteers place registration notices in everyone’s mail cubby. Weingroff sends registration forms to anyone who requests them. The efforts have paid off; for last fall’s election, Cedar Crest had 1,224 registered voters, 775 of whom cast a vote.

That high voter turnout (63% for Cedar Crest versus 30% for the rest of the township) is due to a couple of factors.

Cedar Crest votes close to home
First, Cedar Crest is a self-contained voting district of Pequannock Township. It was the culmination of a two-year effort that was spearheaded by the Resident Advisory Council and led by former council president David Way.

“I just felt that the number of people who would vote would be much higher if their polling place was up here and they could walk to it,” says Way, who is a former Pequannock town councilman and served as mayor in 1962. “I think it’s just that simple. It’s easy for them to vote, so they vote.”