New Jersey Adopts Automatic Voter Registration

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy exits the polling booth after voting at the Fairview School in Middletown, N.J. on Nov. 7, 2017.

Photographer: Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Advance Media via AP
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Democratic Governor Phil Murphy made New Jersey the latest U.S. state with automatic voter registration at motor-vehicle agencies as mid-term elections loom in November.

The legislation was sponsored by Democrats and backed by civic groups that said it would ease a paperwork burden and increase election participation. Republicans in New Jersey, like some elsewhere in the country, said it was a gateway to fraud, with the potential to allow undocumented immigrants to vote.