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The Andrew Goodman Foundation’s Statement on Governor Phil Murphy’s Signing of Early In-Person Voting

Despite the continued onslaught of anti-democratic voter suppression bills under consideration in state legislatures nationwide, there is one bright spot. New Jersey has bucked the national trend, signing into law a bipartisan-supported early in-person voting bill that strengthens voting rights. This bill will provide 3 days of early voting for most primaries, 5 days of early voting for presidential primaries, and 9 days of early voting for general elections. We applaud Governor Murphy, Republican, and Democratic legislative leaders for protecting democracy and for working together to ensure the passage of this critically needed legislation. 

Our organization has been tracking voter suppression bills across the country for years, and since the 2020 Presidential Election states have introduced more than 250 bills that seek to limit access to the ballot under the pretense of rampant voter fraud without any evidence. These pieces of legislation mostly target voters of color, particularly younger voters of color. In Georgia, on the same day the New Jersey Senate passed the early voting bill, Governor Brian Kemp signed one of the most restrictive voter suppression laws since the Jim Crow era. This new Georgia law erects several barriers to the ballot and even criminalizes the common practice of delivering food, water, and folding chairs to voters waiting in long lines. However, despite this alarming trend, policies like New Jersey’s early voting law and federal bills such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are creating a bulwark against these restrictive bills by protecting and extending our most fundamental democratic right as Americans. 

We call on other states to join New Jersey and continue introducing and passing legislation that expands the right to vote and protects policies that ensure everyone’s voice is heard.