All About Us
The Essex County Democratic Committee, Inc. (ECDC) is a diverse and progressive organization that works to further the efforts that matter to residents in Essex County. Composed of over 1000 district leaders, ECDC fuels grassroots operations to elect democrats at the local, county, state, and federal level. These operations include registering new voters, educating the electorate, and GOTV (Get Out the Vote) initiatives on election day. ECDC is a county party under the umbrella of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, which itself is a chapter of the Democratic National Committee.
LeRoy Jones serves as the current chairman of ECDC. Hailing from the city of East Orange, as a former city administrator, Freeholder, and Assemblyman, from his years of experience in public service, he along with other elected leaders of ECDC take an active role in defining, promoting issues, and positions for the county party based upon understanding the interests of Democratic voters in Essex County.
County Committee
Essex County is divided into 574 election districts, each of which has its own polling place and is represented by one man and one woman from each political party. They are the party officials at the most local level. These people are commonly referred to as “district leaders” or officially as “County Committee members.”
County Committee members are elected every two years by voters from each party at the Primary Election in June (each even-numbered year). Their official function is to elect the municipal and county officers of the County Committee. The municipal officers are elected six days after the Primary Election, and the county officers are elected the following day.
Role of the County Committee
As the elected member of the Democratic County Committee, you have a responsibility to:
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Identify and Register New Voters
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Assist Voters in declaring Democratic Party Affiliation
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Assist Voters in obtaining Vote-by-Mail and military applications for ballots in a timely fashion
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Remind Democratic voters to vote prior to Election Day
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Get out the vote on Election Day
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Maintain a list of Democratic voters and check off those who have voted at the polls
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Make sure that no democratic voter is denied the right to vote
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Report polling results to municipal chair throughout election day
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Facilitate communications with local, county, state, and federal elected officials and candidates throughout the year
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Serve as an advocate and representative of the residents in your district regarding neighborhood or district issues.