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.)
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."
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.