New Jersey

New Jersey: An Experiment in Early Voting Expansion

Election Law Society · January 31, 2022 ·

By: Tim Intelisano

Earlier this year, New Jersey expanded in person early voting in the state. Now, that legislation was put to the test in the 2021 general election in early November.

Thus far, it has not been smooth sailing. For one, many counties struggled to recruit enough poll workers. This is an issue that other states, including Ohio, also bemoaned this year. The concern in New Jersey was so severe that newly re-elected Governor Phil Murphy used an executive order to raise the pay of election workers. The pay raise was modest—going from $200 to $300 dollars for a day’s work. It did not escape notice that workers in the June primary were paid $400 dollars for a day of service, though that higher award was attributed almost exclusively to the dangers and uncertainty around coronavirus. Additionally, Governor Murphy’s executive order also permitted poll workers to work outside of the county where they resided. Officials felt that this would be a useful tool for municipalities, since for unknown reasons some towns and counties just had an easier time signing up the requisite number of poll workers.

New Jersey Voting Reform: Early Voting Expansion, Ballot Boxes, and the Future of Voting Legislation

Election Law Society · October 13, 2021 ·

By: Tim Intelisano

In the wake of the 2020 election, the American people watched as a plethora of states enacted restrictive voting laws, that would counter the reforms undertaken to make voting easier and safer during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2020 was an unprecedented year for democracy. Election night (or perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, election week) featured drama counting mail-in-ballots across the Midwest and Sun Belt. The entire process exposed the weaknesses of the system. Instead of changing state laws that would allow counties to start counting mail-in ballots as they were received, some states forced officials to wait until Election Day, resulting in delayed results. These delays were cited by many as proof of fraud or vote tally manipulation.

New Jersey is Ready to Vote by Mail, But the Trump Campaign is Trying to Stop Them

Election Law Society · September 30, 2020 ·

By: Brianna Mashel

On August 14^th, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order mandating all approximately 6.3 million registered voters to automatically receive mail-in ballots. After he announced the order, the governor exclaimed, “Everybody gets a ballot!”

Four days after the executive order was signed, however, the Trump campaign, national GOP Committee, and state GOP Committee launched a suit accusing Governor Murphy of usurping the state legislature’s authority to regulate elections and creating “a recipe for disaster” with respect to invalid voting. Almost a month later, on September 16^th, Governor Murphy and his administration found themselves in a New Jersey Federal Court arguing against a preliminary injunction that would block this proposed expansion of mail-in voting.

Are Absentee Ballots as Helpful to Voters as They Appear to Be?

Election Law Society · April 13, 2018 ·

By: Alyssa Kaiser

My experience in voting with an absentee ballot in New Jersey in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, as well as the 2017 gubernatorial election, alerted my attention to flaws in the system. As an active voter, these experiences have left me to wonder if absentee voting is worth it. I am thankful that my home state of New Jersey has an absentee ballot system that allows me to vote as a New Jerseyite even though I go to school in Virginia. Although New Jersey’s absentee ballot rules are arguably less stringent than other states, I learned the hard way that absentee voting can be difficult.

New Jersey 2016: Election Watchdog, Lacking Quorum, Has Bark But No Bite

Election Law Society · November 3, 2016 ·

By: Ian Cummings

In New Jersey, this year’s state and local elections may forgo monitoring or oversight with any enforcement power if co-branch – and personal – politics between the state’s governor and state legislative leaders continues. The Election Law Enforcement Commission, a state agency tasked to safeguard election integrity by regulating campaign finance reports, lobbying, play-to-play, and political fundraising rules, has been without a quorum since May. The four-person body has three-quarters of its commissioners’ seats vacant, with only one, its chairman, in office. The commission, which traditionally splits evenly with two Republican and two Democratic appointees, only has Republican appointee Ronald DeFilippis serving as of present.