Are candidates allowed to sign their own nominating petition?

In New Jersey, candidates are not permitted to sign their own nominating petitions. This rule is designed to maintain the integrity of the election process. By prohibiting candidates from signing their own petitions, the law aims to prevent potential abuse and ensures that signatures collected are genuinely from registered voters, reflecting public support for the candidate.

The intention behind this regulation is to foster a fair and transparent electoral process. While candidates can certainly gather signatures from others to support their nomination, allowing them to sign their own petitions could lead to manipulation and undermine voter confidence in the nomination process.

This concept of separating candidate actions from the act of signing nominating petitions is crucial for maintaining ethical standards in elections.