In New Jersey, we often take the right to vote for granted. But today, that fundamental right faces a sustained and coordinated assault from the highest levels of the federal government.
The U.S. Supreme Court has steadily eroded the landmark Voting Rights Act, or VRA, gutting key protections that civil rights leaders fought with their lives to establish. Without the full protections of the VRA, the racial turnout gap has grown across the country in the last decade, including in New Jersey.
And from day one of the second Trump administration, we have witnessed even more brazen attempts to undermine fair elections and silence voters. Amid the Trump administration's efforts to erode constitutional foundations of our democracy, President Donald Trump has personally and persistently urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill designed to make it harder to vote. If this bill is passed into law, voters with low incomes, naturalized citizens, voters of color, rural voters, older voters, young voters, voters who changed their name when they married and transgender voters would be disproportionately impacted by these restrictions due to financial constraints, mismatched paperwork and other obstacles.
The bill would also force states to engage in faulty voter roll purges and to turn over private, sensitive voter data to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This requirement is connected to the Trump administration's attempt to create an unauthorized and unlawful national voter database and to use this illicit tool, along with unreliable data-matching and aggregation techniques, to illegally target and challenge voters.
The SAVE America Act already passed in the House, and the Senate is poised to vote on it any day now. As the Trump administration ramps up efforts to suppress the right to vote and to silence the voices of working families, especially in communities of color, it's imperative that states take the lead in advancing pro-voter and pro-democracy policies.
New Jersey must pass its own voting rights act
One of the ways states can fight back against federal attacks is by passing state-level voting rights acts. These bills have been passed in eight states so far - California, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, Minnesota, and Colorado - and New Jersey can be next. We are calling on the New Jersey Legislature to immediately pass the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey (A1715/S282). This landmark legislation would restore protections being stripped away at the federal level and tailor them to New Jersey's unique needs, while providing new tools to uproot racial discrimination in voting and prohibiting intimidating and deceptive practices at the polls.
This bill did not make it to the governor's desk during New Jersey's last legislative session, and the urgency of its passage has only increased due to mounting threats from the Trump administration. New Jersey has the opportunity to serve as a model for other states around the country looking to counteract the federal assault on democracy. We call on leadership in both houses of the Legislature to work swiftly with Gov. Mikie Sherrill to get the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey signed into law. New Jersey must reaffirm its commitment to a fair, inclusive, and accessible democracy for all.
Voting is power and always has been. In this moment of national crisis, New Jersey must send a clear message: We do not shrink from threats to democracy - we expand to protect it. Our communities and our future depend on it.
Allison McLeod is the interim executive director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. The organization advocates for policies and passes laws to protect clean air, safeguard clean water and ensure equitable access to preserved open spaces and parks.
Alejandra Sorto (she/her/ella) is the associate director of Civic Engagement at the ACLU of New Jersey, where she oversees organizing and civic engagement efforts at the local and state levels.