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Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to sign the legislation to expand early voting in New Jersey.
New Jersey to institute permanent early voting system
Amid nationwide efforts to restrict access to the ballot box, New Jersey is pushing ahead with plans to expand voting opportunities for the state's upcoming elections.
On Thursday, the state Senate voted 28-8 to approve a bill requiring early in-person voting options for primary and general elections. The state House voted in favor of the bill earlier this month, so it now goes to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is expected to sign it as early as next week.
It's unclear, however, if there will be enough time or money to get the new early voting system in place in time for gubernatorial, state legislative and municipal primaries in June and general elections in November.
Currently, the only way New Jerseyans can vote early is by mail. Once this legislation is enacted, New Jersey will join two dozen other states that require a certain number of days for in-person early voting.
Under this bill, the state would allow for three days of early voting for most primaries, five days of early voting for presidential primaries and nine days (including weekends) of early voting for general elections. For the upcoming general election, the early voting period would be Oct. 23-31. (New Jersey and Virginia conduct non-federal elections in odd years.)
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Additionally, the measure requires all 21 counties to open between three and seven early voting locations, depending on the number of registered voters in each county.
Those polling locations also must use voting machines that produce a verifiable paper trail, meaning 16 counties would need to purchase new equipment to adhere to this standard. Counties would also need to buy electronic poll books to check in voters and verify registration statuses in real time.
Election officials have raised concerns over the feasibility of implementing an early voting system when both time and funding is short. A fiscal analysis of the bill estimates the cost to be at least $28 million and possibly exceeding $50 million.
The legislation itself only appropriates $2 million for the purchase of printers for paper ballots. But Murphy's budget proposal includes $40 million for the early voting system — $20 million for the current fiscal year and $20 million for the year beginning July 1. The governor's budget is currently under review by the Legislature.
Even if the funding is secured, it's unlikely the system will be in place in time for the statewide primaries in three months. The hope instead is that it will be ready for the general election in November.
While local officials are concerned about the quick timeline, Democratic lawmakers in Trenton say now is not the time to delay on voting expansions. Proponents of the legislation want New Jersey to be seen as a leader in expanding voting access, as Republicans across the country continue to push restrictive measures.
"There are few rights more important than a citizen's ability to vote," said Democratic Sen. Nia Gill, who sponsored the bill. "Passing early voting and implementing electronic poll books will ensure our fundamental right to have our voices heard."
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You've winnowed the field: Democracy Madness reaches the Final Four
The democracy reform movement is full of scores of ideas for improving the American political system, many of them compatible with one another. But we have challenged readers of The Fulcrum to pick their favorites from among a field of 64, narrowing the options as we go. And now we're down to the Final Four.
It's time now to vote in the two semi-final matchups of the Democracy Madness tournament, which features the winners of our "regional" brackets: Voting, Money in Politics, Elections and the Best of the Rest.
On one side of the brackets, we have a matchup between the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (which won upset after upset to rise from the 11th seed in the Elections region to Final Four participant) versus always using paper ballots, which was seeded No. 1 in Best of the Rest. The compact is an agreement among states to cast their electoral votes for the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of each in-state winner. Paper ballots are widely seen as the premier method of guarding against election hacking.
The other half of the bracket features another top seed, undoing Citizens United as the best way to fix Money in Politics, facing off against ranked-choice elections (No. 2 seed), which made a dominating run through the Voting region. The Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC opened the door to unlimited campaign spending by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals and has since become a premier cause among campaign finance reformers. Ranked-choice voting is the most popular form of alternative voting among change advocates. It uses an instant runoff system to guarantee majority support for the winner of an election.
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The final round begins Wednesday.
- Democracy Madness: Final Four set in our Voting bracket - The ... ›
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- Paper ballots win last spot in Democracy Madness Final Four - The ... ›
Paper ballots win last spot in Democracy Madness Final Four
The drive to mandate paper ballots in every election has won the final "regional" bracket in our Democracy Madness tournament — which asks you, the reader, to select your favorite democracy reform idea from among an original list of 64 concepts.
Paper ballots, the top seat in our "Best of the Rest" division, topped second-seeded federal funding for elections in the championship game for this quadrant of the bracket.
When the Final Four kicks off Monday, paper ballots will challenge the winners of the previous regions: ranked-choice voting (Voting region), repealing the Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case (Money in Politics) and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (Elections).
Tune in on Monday to vote in the Final Four.
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- Democracy Madness reaches the Final Four - The Fulcrum ›
- Democracy Madness reaches the Final Four - The Fulcrum ›
Top seeds squaring off for the 'best of the rest' in Democracy Madness
Three of the four quarters of Democracy Madness have wrapped up. Now, it's time to crown the champion of the "Best of the Rest" division and move into the Final Four of our reader-driven tournament to come up with the fan favorite proposal for fixing the broken democracy.
The top seeds in this part of the bracket — always using paper ballots in elections (No. 1) and using federal funding to power elections (No. 2) — will square off today and Thursday in the final round of this "regional" competition. Both proposals have breezed past their opponents thus far, though the second seed has had higher win margins during its run.
Can federal election funding upset paper ballots? Or will the lead seed bring home the victory? You decide by clicking "Vote Now" and tracking your pick.
Starting Monday, the champions of each divisional bracket will go head-to-head to decide which reform you think is the top choice.
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- The 13 states where election security matters most - The Fulcrum ›
