New Jersey
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
The state has moved to make voting easier since 2020, but it continues to have problems with casting and counting ballots.
According to the nonpartisan Verified Voting Foundation, 41% of voting machines in New Jersey do not produce a paper record of the vote, the third-highest percentage among US states.
That can cause problems when aging touchscreens aren’t calibrated correctly, causing the machine to make the wrong selection.
The state legislature has also so far failed to pass a bill that would allow local elections administrators to process mail-in ballots before Election Day, which can help prevent delays in counting and certifying elections.
While vote-by-mail has long been an option in New Jersey, the state recently added in-person early voting as well.
Ease of Voting
A 2021 law requires that counties hold nine days of early in-person voting in general elections, and three to five days for primaries. That’s well below the US average of 23 days.
Another new law requires counties to have a minimum number of ballot drop boxes that are geographically distributed.
Ballot Security
In 2021, New Jersey passed legislation that would allow it to join the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonprofit that helps states see when a voter has moved or registered to vote in another state, and is in the process of joining.
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
One of the state’s two Republican US representatives, Jeff Van Drew, signed an amicus brief supporting the Texas lawsuit before the Supreme Court and objected to Biden electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.