The New Jersey Institute of Social Justice today released a report identifying barriers to voter participation in New Jersey and proposing policy recommendations to directly address them.
Henal Patel, Director of the Democracy & Justice Program at the Institute is the primary author of the report. Patel says through interviews with Newark residents, they were able to identify barriers to voter participation including systemic issues like access to information, and restricted voting rights.
“We need to change our culture around voting, we need to have a culture in this country, in New Jersey, and in the city of Newark, that actually stands up and believes in the right to vote; and that only happens when you don’t have unnecessary and artificial restrictions on the vote. “
Patel says policy recommendations include paid time off to vote, implementing same-day voter registration, lowering the voting age, and restoring the right to vote for incarcerated people.
