New Jersey is dropping its requirement that candidates for office sign an oath that includes the words “so help me God” in filing paperwork for their candidacy.
NJ.com reported Wednesday that the state Division of Elections is no longer requiring candidates to sign that oath, allowing them to make “a solemn affirmation or declaration” instead.
The state was being sued by James Tosone, a 70-year-old northern New Jersey man who said he plans to run for Congress in 2024 as a Libertarian. But as a nontheist, he said, he cannot sign part of the petition including a religious oath.
In an Oct. 24 memo to all county clerks in New Jersey, Lauren Zyriek, acting director of the state’s Division of Elections, said the religious oath is no longer required.
"In the affirmation or declaration, the words ‘so help me God’ shall be omitted,” the memo reads.
Tosone, who lives in Washington Township in Bergen County, dropped his lawsuit against the state this week.
A Texas judge on Thursday granted a pregnant woman permission to obtain an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to the state’s ban that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
House members voted again Thursday to punish one of their own, targeting Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings in September when the chamber was in session.
A Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans who submitted certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential race.
But even as he lashed Republicans for their stance, Biden stressed that he is willing to “make significant compromises on the border,” if that’s what it takes to get the package through Congress.
