Murphy signs law to make N.J. polling place information easier to find

N.J. will stop publishing a comprehensive list of polling places in newspapers. Here’s how it’ll work instead.

A sign announces a polling place in Spanish outside of the Harrison Community Center during New Jersey's primary election June 5. (Julio Cortez/AP)

A sign announces a polling place in Spanish outside of the Harrison Community Center during New Jersey's primary election June 5. (Julio Cortez/AP)

New Jersey’s division of elections will no longer be required to publish long lists of polling places in newspapers ahead of elections.

Instead, under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, the election notices will explain how residents can contact their municipal or county clerk and direct voters to a website where they can get address-specific polling place information.

Backers say the small change will help ease confusion and modernize the state’s election process.

“All you really want to know is where are you going to go [to vote], and you can’t identify that currently,” said Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin, D-Middlesex. “It’s … letting people get access to that one very specific question: where do I go to vote?”

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Jesse Burns, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, said the minor tweak could mean that more voters have access to additional information about a given election, which may increase voter turnout.

“The more non-partisan information that we can provide to voters from trusted sources like the League and the Division of Elections, the more likely they are to be able to feel like they are empowered to participate,” Burns said.

The new law takes effect immediately.

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