Sen. Nia Gill: NJ's New Election Law Will Fight Voter Suppression

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey’s recently passed early voting law is a tribute to the value of persistence, according to Sen. Nia Gill (District 34).

Gill, who represents East Orange, Montclair and Orange in Essex County, in addition to Clifton in Passaic County, had nothing but praise after Gov. Phil Murphy signed S-3203 into law on Tuesday. Read More: Murphy Signs New Law Expanding Voting Access In New Jersey

Gill, one of the primary sponsors of the Senate version of the bill, said the changes are a long time coming.

“Our accountability over government, opportunities to better our lives and the chance to elect our representatives all depend upon our ability to access the ballot,” Gill said Tuesday. “Preventing voter intimidation, passing early voting and implementing electronic poll books will ensure our fundamental right to have our voices heard.”

“There are few rights more important than a citizen's ability to vote,” she emphasized.

Gill recently wrote about the state’s new law on Twitter, blasting former Gov. Chris Christie for vetoing previous attempts to roll out early voting in New Jersey.

At its core, the new law will be a huge boost for voters who can’t get out to the polls on Election Day, which takes place on a Tuesday.

Here are some changes under the new law:

• The legislation develops an in-person early-voting procedure to allow people to cast votes beginning 10 days before a general election and ending the Sunday after an election, in specifically designated polling places.
• Those who participate in early voting wouldn't be allowed to send a mail-in ballot or vote in-person on Election Day. Early voting would only be required for June primaries and November general elections. But under the law, cities and towns with May elections can adopt an early-voting period by passing a local ordinance.
• New Jersey's new law requires each county to open three to seven polling places for early machine voting. For the upcoming November election, there would be nine days of early in-person voting, including two weekends.

The new law may require some counties to take another look at their voting machines. According to a statement from Gov. Murphy’s office:

“In-person early voting will enable a registered voter to vote at a designated polling place before the day of an election using optical-scan voting machines that read hand-marked paper ballots or other voting machines that produce a voter-verifiable paper ballot.”

However, it’s an aspect of the new law that Essex County already has a head start on. The county invested $3.8 million to buy new voting machines in 2020 – which include optical scanners.

• See related article: Essex County Pays $3.8M For New Voting Machines As Election Nears

The new law has also drawn other support in Essex County.

“This is a big day for democracy in New Jersey,” said Ryan Haygood, president and CEO of the Newark-based New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

“Early in-person voting will make voting more accessible, including for Black voters who will now be able to participate in the ‘Souls to the Polls’ tradition of voting on Sunday after church,” Haygood said. “With laws like this, New Jersey is on its way to becoming a model of an inclusive democracy.”

The law has also seen hesitation in Essex County, too, including from Sen. Kristin Corrado (District 40), who represents towns including Cedar Grove.

Corrado told The New York Times she supports early voting. But she voted against the measure because she thought there wouldn't be enough time to properly implement it before Election Day.

"I hope we're not setting everyone up for failure, but we're just not there," she told The Times. "We don't have the machines. We don't have the poll books. We don't have the workers."

This article contains reporting by Josh Bakan, Patch staff

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.