Gary Schaer, a Democratic state assemblyman in New Jersey, said on Tuesday that he would propose legislation allowing the state to reschedule its June 3 primary election next year to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, when observant Jews are unable to vote.

“I am deeply concerned with the New Jersey primary election day interference with Shavuot,” he said in a statement first shared with Jewish Insider. “The inability to vote in-person will disenfranchise many observant Jews exercising their constitutional right to vote. As a member of the Democratic Party, which claims to protect democracy, it is hypocritical and reprehensible to acknowledge such suppression and not address this issue.”

Schaer, the first Orthodox Jew to serve in the state Legislature, said that he is planning to introduce a bill “that will give New Jersey the ability to change election dates when they conflict with a significant religious observance.”

The legislation, if ultimately approved, would make New Jersey “one of the first states to pass this bill ensuring voter accessibility and participation,” he said. 

A spokesperson for Schaer’s office said he did not “have a clear timeline yet for the legislation,” but he would need to move relatively quickly to reschedule the primary date, now just under six months away.

The legislative effort comes in response to a recent push by more than 60 Jewish leaders in New Jersey, who last week shared a letter with top state elected officials that raised concerns about the scheduling conflict and urged the state Legislature to pass a bill granting lawmakers “the flexibility to move election dates when they conflict with significant religious observances.”

In a statement to JI last Friday, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphy, a term-limited Democrat, said that he “is open to working with the legislature to shift the date of the June 3, 2025 primary election due to overlap with the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, recognizing that many Orthodox Jewish voters are not able to work, travel, write or use electronics that day.”

Several leading gubernatorial candidates from both parties have endorsed moving the primary election so it does not overlap with Shavuot, including Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), the latter of whom led a bipartisan letter on Monday calling on the state Legislature to change the date. 

“We urge the New Jersey legislature to waste no time,” the letter said. “We should immediately pass a law moving the 2025 primary election to a later date that maximizes ballot access for all New Jersey voters. At a time when voters have more doubts than ever about the fairness of our elections, this is unquestionably the right thing to do.”

Meanwhile, Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican candidate for governor, has suggested that next year’s primary be held instead on Wednesday, June 4, he said in a statement to JI shared last Thursday and in a letter to Murphy and leading state legislators he sent this week. 

Schaer, who sits on the Budget and Appropriations Committees, is the first state lawmaker to take up the call to change the primary date. His legislative district, which includes the city of Passaic, is home to a sizable Orthodox Jewish voting base.

Nick Scutari, the Democratic president of the state Senate, confirmed this week that there have been discussions about moving the election but said he was unsure if the Legislature would be able to take action. “I’m not against changing it, but it can be difficult,” he told New Jersey Globe on Monday. 

The state Assembly speaker, Craig Coughlin, also a Democrat, has not yet publicly addressed the issue. His office did not respond to a request for comment from JI on Tuesday.

Moving the election because of a major Jewish holiday would not be without precedent. Last year, Maryland rescheduled its 2024 presidential primary so it would not overlap with Passover, after Jewish leaders in the state voiced similar concerns that the conflict would disenfranchise religiously observant voters.