1975 New Jersey Public Question 2

Referendum on equal rights amendment November 2025 November 2025 4 November 1975 New Jersey Shall Article 1 of the Constitution be amended, as agreed to by the Legislature, by the addition of the following paragraph?"20A. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. The Legislature shall by law provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this paragraph." File:1975_New_Jersey_Public_Question_2_results_map_by_county.svg 828290 868061 Yes #B6C8D9 50%–60% No #BCBC83 60%–70% #DEDEBD 50%–60% 1975 New Jersey Public Question 2 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of New Jersey to prohibit the denial or abridgment of equal rights on account of sex. The amendment failed, receiving 48.83% of the vote, and the support of 9 out of 21 counties. Background The amendment was proposed as the federal Equal Rights Amendment was being debated.Laing Mercedes A. 5 November 1975 Voter's in Jersey, New York, Defeat State-Wide ERA's https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1975/11/5/voters-in-jersey-new-york-defeat/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20251103002414/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1975/11/5/voters-in-jersey-new-york-defeat/ 3 November 2025 3 November 2025 The Harvard Crimson Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 67 placed the amendment on the ballot. In the New Jersey Senate, the resolution was passed by a 32 to 1 vote. Journal of the Senate of the State of New Jersey https://archive.org/details/senateo75newj/page/n417/mode/2up Discussion State Senator Carol Bellamy: “There was such anxiety. So many women talked to had a sense that we wanted to take something away from them, some privilege or benefit that in most cases they don't really have.” State Senator Karen S. Burstein: "It came down to a question of credibility. They'd say E.R.A. would mean unisex toilets. We'd say there was no way E.R.A. would mean unisex toilets. Well, if someone came away believing there was even a 1‐in‐100 chance of unisex toilets, then she'd vote against E.R.A.”Greenhouse Linda 6 November 1975 Defeat of Equal Rights Bills Traced to Women's Votes https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/06/archives/new-jersey-pages-defeat-of-equal-rights-bills-traced-to-womens-vote.html 2 November 2025 The New York Times Contents PUBLIC QUESTION No. 2 EQUALITY OF RIGHTS OF WOMEN Shall Article 1 of the Constitution be amended, as agreed to by the Legislature, by the addition of the following paragraph? "20A. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. The Legislature shall by law provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this paragraph."State of New Jersey Results of the General Election Held November 4, 1975 https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1920-1970//1975-general-election.pdf live https://web.archive.org/web/20251004192907/https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1920-1970/1975-general-election.pdf 4 October 2025 2 November 2025 Results The following table details the results by county: CountyYesNo#%#%Atlantic22,00952.6119,82347.39Bergen129,86350.23128,66349.77Burlington35,82854.6829,69145.32Camden57,77157.7842,20942.22Cape May10,64850.6110,39049.39Cumberland14,49849.9714,51850.03Essex72,70749.2574,91650.75Gloucester24,48051.8422,74448.16Hudson58,70152.7452,59747.26Hunterdon10,50749.8910,55250.11Mercer43,46056.4233,56443.58Middlesex66,14147.5872,87452.42Monmouth61,26648.5864,84551.42Morris46,43244.6857,48755.32Ocean34,28944.5942,61455.41Passaic33,44838.2454,01861.76Salem7,50349.797,56550.21Somerset23,50844.2729,58955.73Sussex10,60342.9614,07657.04Union55,59942.0676,58857.94Warren9,02950.828,73849.18Total828,29048.83868,06151.17 References See also State equal rights amendments Category:1975 in New Jersey Category:Equal Rights Amendment