Ballots disqualified for dubious reasons. Hourslong wait times. Onerous identification requirements. Broken polling stations. The frustrations millions of people experienced during November’s midterm election have made voting rights a polarizing issue, thrusting it to the top of statehouse agendas across the country. While some states are wrestling with expanding voter access, others are seeking to further restrict access to the ballot under the guise of combating voter fraud, which is extremely rare. Now, in New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, is pursuing a series of bills that would significantly expand access to the ballot for hundreds of thousands of voters. “The package of reforms in New Jersey would place the state at the forefront of the country in terms of voter access,” said Wendy R. Weiser, the director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. The bills call for changes across the electoral spectrum: allowing online voter registration and early voting up to 30 days before an election; same-day voter registration; permitting those on parole and probation to vote; and making 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the general election eligible to vote in party primaries.
The package, which would have to be passed by the Democrat-controlled State Legislature, does not include proposals that would result in a first-in-the-nation approach to expanding voting access. But the changes — combined with reforms approved in 2018 that expanded automatic voter registration and made it simpler to vote by mail — would make New Jersey one of the easiest states to cast a vote.
Full Article: N.J.’s Governor Wants to Give You Fewer Reasons Not to Vote – The New York Times.