Tuesday is the deadline for New Jersey residents to register to vote in this year’s primary elections to nominate the Democratic and Republican candidates for one U.S. Senate seat and all 12 congressional seats. Local and county races are also on the ballot, as well as the president.
The latest episode in the NJ Spotlight News’ multimedia series “Gotta Know Jersey” explains how to register and how to vote. While the primary is Tuesday, June 4, people are already returning mail-in ballots; people will also be able to vote early in person on machines between May 29 and June 2.
New Jersey does not have same-day voter registration, so only those registered will be able to cast ballots. The registration deadline is Tuesday, May 14. People can register in person at their county clerk’s office or online.
The NJ Spotlight News’ elections page has a link to a tool where people can check their registration status, as well as other useful election-related information.
The accompanying Gotta Know Jersey video explains that New Jersey has a closed primary system, meaning only registered Democrats can vote for Democratic candidates and Republicans for Republican candidates.
More than 2.4 million registered voters in the state, about 37% of all, are not affiliated with any party. But they can vote in the primary simply by declaring for one party or the other when they go to the polls. Casting that ballot doesn’t mean the voter needs to remain registered with that party; it is relatively easy to switch to another party or back to unaffiliated after the primary using the online registration form or by calling the county clerk.
There are arguments for why everyone, even the unaffiliated, should vote in this year’s congressional primaries. The most practical one is the fact that since nearly every congressional district — the 7th District is the exception — has been gerrymandered to favor one party or the other, the person who wins the dominant party’s primary will most likely win the office in November. That makes the primary the election when people get the real say in who will represent them.
And because voter turnout in primaries is so low, every vote has an impact. Four years ago, the last time the presidential election topped the ballot, less than one-quarter of all those registered to vote did so, largely because few unaffiliated voters participate in primaries.
The Gotta Know Jersey series is civics-focused and seeks to explain how government works and provide the public with information they can use to get more involved. Gotta Know Jersey launched last year, focused on legislative elections and the workings of that branch of government. The last video explained the state budget and the process behind it.
The Gotta Know Jersey team is Katherine Crist, Julie Daurio, Madeline Ference, Sophie Leigh Fisher, Nicholas Hernandez, and Colleen O’Dea, with additional help from Harrison Malkin.
