On March 19, New Jersey election officials agreed that they will grant voter registration rights to the Socialist Party. This means that when anyone fills in the “political party” blank on voter registration forms, the state will keep a tally of these voters, and then party officers will be able to learn of the existence of such voters.

Other unqualified parties that are treated this way are the Conservative, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Reform Parties. Each of these parties obtained that status by suing the state, just as the Socialist Party did last year. It is hoped that New Jersey officials will promulgate regulations that explain which groups have voter registration rights. Some of the parties that have such rights no longer exist, but without regulations on how groups obtain and keep such rights, there is no way to delete groups from the list. Alternatively, it is possible the legislature will address this matter.