Many New Jersey voters encountered long lines and malfunctioning machines at the polls yesterday.
A lot of voters who mailed in ballots in 2016 had to use provisional ballots at the polls this time. That’s because a new law signed by the governor this year that automatically lists them as mail-in voters. It caused problems at the polls, but Murphy says it expanded voter participation.
“While it may have brought some confusion, four hundred thousand people, over four hundred thousand people voted by mail, a third of them we believe are new voters.”
Murphy is calling on the legislature to re-introduce a bill that would expand early voting.
“You wouldn’t be beholden to one day of New Jersey Transit breaking, god forbid that ever happens again, bad weather, or whatever it might be. That opens democracy up. There’s no question evidence in other states suggests that it brings more people out to vote,” Murphy said.
Former Governor Chris Christie vetoed a voter system overhaul in 2015.