Good morning and thank you to the commissioners for agreeing to serve in this role and to the staff facilitating these hearings.

My name is Matt Dragon and I’ve been a resident of West Orange, in Essex County for the last 12 years.

I want to remind you that you are representing the voters of NJ not the political parties, political machines, or individual machines that have appointed you to serve.

As such we, as the residents and voters of New Jersey, will be holding you accountable for the decisions this body makes.

We demand an open, transparent and publicly inclusive process from the meetings and collection of data and proposed maps to inform your commission to the commissions’ work products from draft maps, supporting data and documentation.

Every effort must be made to ensure all voices are not just able to be heard, but actively sought out with an equitable frame on everything this commission undertakes.

We will be watching.

This is a redistricting process like none we have previously seen.

Voting rights are under active attack and being rolled back in many states across the country.

The census data being used for redistricting was collected during a worldwide pandemic and suffered from active interference and attempts to undermine the process.

And we’re in New Jersey, the only state with a County LIne on Primary ballots, our own unique form of voter suppression that will be applied in each, and every district you prescribe.

So we need to hold our process to the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and public input. 

This is not a partisan issue, it is a fairness, equity, and accountability issue.

The process must include public engagement, meeting people where they are in terms of location, COVID risk, and work and childcare commitments.

Public meetings like this one should be announced with at least 7 days of public notice, an improved registration process, and you should hold at least one meeting per county, not just the 10 that have been committed to.

There need to be non-partisan, clear, and publicly reviewed standards for line-drawing that include a prioritization for when all standards cannot be satisfied for a given district.

Particular, specific, and regular public attention is needed to ensure racial equity, aligning with the principles set forth in the Voting Rights Act.

We must respect communities of interest to the largest extent possible and the commission must engage with community leaders and citizens to determine where district lines must fall to keep those communities from being divided for political gain.

Planned districts must explicitly not be allowed to favor or protect incumbents, candidates, or political parties.

Maps proposed by the commission must be made public and a process of hearings and public comment must be allowed for at least 30 days before certification. This must include supporting data and written analysis for the bases of the new districts that is available for the entire comment period.

The website for the commission should  publicly share the data underlying the redistricting process and allow for submission and public display of all public comment, data, and map submissions that the commission receives.

Thank you.