addicted: Big voter turnout could test election system in NJ

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Voters in New Jersey have registered in record numbers this year and are expected to vote in record numbers on Tuesday.

It's good for democracy — and probably one Democrat — but it could mean a big test for the state's election system.

"The one kind of sticky wicket is whether the state is actually equipped to facilitate these historic numbers," said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University.

More than 600,000 new voters have registered since the beginning of the year — enough to push the total to nearly 5.4 million.

That's about 300,000 more than were registered four years ago when President Bush defeated John Kerry in another presidential race that attracted intense interest. That year, 3.6 million people, or 73 percent of New Jersey's registered voters, participated.

County election officials across the state have prepared for this year's surge by adding voting machines and extra poll workers. Some will be assigned to make sure people who join the voting lines are in the right place.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine has been urging voters to cast absentee ballots. For the first time in a presidential election year, New Jersey does not require absentee voters to explain why they would prefer to vote absentee. More than 250,000 voters have already requested absentee ballots, which are available from county election offices until 3 p.m. Monday.

State election officials suggest voting early in the day. But they say polls will stay open long enough for everyone who is in line by 8 p.m., the official closing time, to cast a ballot.

The state Attorney General's Office is dispatching 540 lawyers to help with elections. In addition, the U.S. Justice Department will monitor the elections in Bergen County and Penns Grove in Salem County.

As always on Election Day, judges will be on duty in every county to resolve legal questions regarding voters' rights.

Some watchdogs are concerned about whether those efforts will be enough.

"We should be prepared in ways we've never been prepared before. To treat this election as normal would be a big mistake," DeForest Soaries, former national chairman of the Help America Vote Act, said at a news conference last month. "The sheer turnout makes management of the election far more difficult."

The huge number of new voters is expected to benefit Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential race against Republican John McCain.

The largest groups of new voters in New Jersey, and across the country, are African-Americans and young voters. Polls indicate those groups are heavily supporting Obama, who is expected to win New Jersey's 15 electoral votes. New Jersey has not supported a Republican presidential candidate since 1988.

Montclair's Harrison said one of the big questions is whether the new voters who are impassioned about Obama will also vote in races down the ticket — and what that could mean.

While Democrats have dominated statewide elections for the past decade, the state's congressional delegation is nearly evenly split, with seven Democrats and six Republicans.

The races for open congressional seats in the 3rd District in Burlington, Camden and Ocean counties; the 5th District in Warren County and parts of Bergen, Sussex and Passaic counties; and the 7th District in parts of Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties are expected to be tight.

All three seats are currently held by Republicans.

From dailyrecord.com

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Saturday, November 1, 2008

Big voter turnout could test election system in NJ

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