A comprehensive study of the cost of implementing New Jersey’s early voting law shows taxpayers will have to pony up $77 million this year alone just to pay for new voting machines and other essential hardware.
That is almost four times the amount set aside in this year’s budget to finance the landmark law, and it does not include millions more needed for the hiring and training of poll workers, facility upgrades and a range of other ongoing expenses.
“We’re very disappointed that the governor’s budget does not provide anywhere near enough money,” said John Donaddio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, which carried out the study and based its findings on data from all 21 counties. “We have no indication where the rest will come from.”
Counties in New Jersey are adding more drop boxes for voters to use in future elections, but officials across the state are not sure how those elections will look considering how COVID-19 drastically changed the process in 2020.
The open question now is if the state will hold elections primarily with voting machines, mail-in ballots or a combination of both this year with the governor topping the ballot.
Although many election details are up in the air, the state still has ordered counties to have at least 10 drop boxes and place them in front of municipal buildings and on college campuses. Once voters start to receive mail-in ballots, the drop boxes must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and always under security camera surveillance.
Officials across New Jersey agree that 2020’s mostly mail-in election the biggest and most complex in state history was also the most successful, as 4.5 million people voted safely in the midst of a public-health crisis.
Lawmakers had hoped to build on that success by moving quickly with a plan that would bring early in-person voting to New Jersey as soon as this year’s gubernatorial primary, scheduled for June 8. Early voting already takes place in more than half the states, but for now the bill is stalled.
To make early voting happen, New Jersey needs to update its voter registration system. That system is a complex web of computer servers and software linking all 21 counties with agencies in Trenton, including the division of elections, Motor Vehicle Commission and central offices for state courts, corrections and human services. It’s supposed to keep accurate track of registered voters and their addresses.