Anti-Blue Law Group Submits Petitions For Referendum

The leaders of Modernize Bergen County, a group of residents seeking to repeal the county's Blue Laws, submitted petitions with 2,648 signatures to Bergen County Clerk John Hogan Friday morning, but they may still be short of what they need for a referendum.

Members of the group said they want to repeal the laws, which ban the sale of certain items like clothes on Sundays, because they believe the extra day of shopping could provide a boost to the local economy. 

"These laws totally negate the principles of liberty this country was founded on," Modernize Bergen County co-leader Amy Margolin said.

The group obtained the signatures at various street fairs and public events with the goal of getting a referendum to repeal the laws on the ballot this November, believing they needed 2,500 registered voters to sign.

Hogan said Friday that a referendum would require signatures from 10 percent of voters in the county. With 551,725 voters registered as of the 2012 general election, that would mean the group needs about 55,000 signatures, if Hogan is correct.

Mitchell Horn, a co-leader of Modernize Bergen County, told reporters Friday that they still believed that 2,500 signatures would be enough, but they would do what they needed to get get the issue on the ballot.

"If they tell us we need 55,000 signatures, we're going to go out and get 55,000 signatures," Horn said. 

Now that the petitions are in, Hogan's office will work to verify that all the signatures are from registered voters. They will continue accepting petitions through next Friday.

If the referendum does get on the ballot, Bergen County voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to keep the Blue Laws, though municipal Blue Laws like those in Paramus will remain either way.