Candidate information:
Email: sadaf@voteforjaffer.com
Phone number: (202) 413-3934
Date of Birth: 2/19/1983
Campaign website: www.voteforjaffer.com
Social media: Facebook.com/voteforjaffer
Education: B.S., Georgetown University; Ph.D., Harvard University
Occupation: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Party affiliation: Democratic Party
Public/Party service: Somerset County Director, NJ Democratic State Committee South Asian American Caucus 2014-present
Position on good government initiatives:
- Would you support reinstituting the statewide public advocate and making it a directly elected position? I support the reinstitution of a public advocate but would need to do more research on the impact of direct election.
- Would you support measures to increase voter participation (eg. same-day registration, early voting, vote by mail)? Yes. Voting should be made as simple and easily accessible as possible. We need broad participation for a robust democracy.
- Would you support ethics reforms that would require broader disclosure on financial information and the release of income taxes by candidates for public office, as a means for regulating campaigns and limiting corruption? Yes. Transparency is key to ensuring that elected officials are not abusing their positions of power.
- Would you support changing the nominating process for members of state-wide Commissions and Boards to have panels of nonpartisan experts nominate candidates, with full public disclosure of the candidates’ credentials, and to have the legislature vote on the nominations? Yes. We should have the best candidates serving our communities rather than simply political favorites.
- Would you support placing a nonpartisan commission in charge of the legislative redistricting process? Yes. Gerrymandering is absolutely unethical and antithetical to democratic principles.
- Would you support public funding of campaigns for all statewide offices, including the legislature? Yes. Campaign finance needs major overhaul. Elected officials should spend their time serving the public, not fundraising for their next election.
- Would you support making the state legislature full-time and prohibiting simultaneous holding of other paid positions? No. I’m not so certain about this proposition as we would have to ensure that there was a competitive salary commensurate. This might be difficult to guarantee.
- Would you support reforming New Jersey’s Primary electoral ballots to give all candidates an equal chance of being elected? Yes.