NEWARK, NJ—The 2021 elections mark the first time New Jersey residents can participate in early in-person voting in state history. Between Saturday, Oct. 23 and Sunday, Oct. 31, registered New Jersey voters could cast their ballots in person and ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. Nov. 2.

Here in Newark, voters will have a say in the gubernatorial race between Gov. Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli and in local elections, including those for Essex County sheriff and to fill Senate and Assembly seats in the 28th and 29th districts of the state legislature.

This past week, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice partnered with Black churches throughout New Jersey for "Souls to the Polls" events. The Sunday voting drives, during which congregants of Black churches travel to voting sites and cast ballots after church services, can be traced back to the Jim Crow era and steeped in the traditions of the Civil Right to gain voting rights for Black Americans.

As early-in person voting drew to a close, Public Square spoke with Aaron Greene, an Associate Counsel at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice about early-in-person voting and Souls to the Polls events throughout New Jersey. Greene has organized many of these events with churches, including Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, which participated on the first Sunday of the early voting period.

Early voting rights in New Jersey

Aaron Greene: Early voting, it started Oct. 23, and ends Oct. 31. And the early voting locations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. And we have a number of early voting locations in each county. You can vote at any early voting location within your county. So it's not like on election day when you have to go to your specific polling place. You can go to any early voting location within your county. And with that, we've been able to serve as a coordinator for the Souls to the Polls effort. We've been able to work with amazing, incredible core partners across the state that have been so instrumental in making this happen. We have had representation of houses of worship in about eight counties. Last week was the start of it. I was able to join Community Baptist Church of Englewood. And it was about 400 people in worship. We had over about 100 people go to the early voting location following worship. You know, this is the first time we're actually able to participate in the tradition in the Black church of having worship and going to vote together. And so, we've been able to distribute over 1,500 Souls to the Polls posters to our partners. And it's been really incredible. In Newark, Bethany Baptist Church had a Souls to Polls worship last week that was well attended, and a lot of people participated. 

Turnout and community response so far

So we're hearing so many great things about it. And what's so important about it is that you know, specifically in the Black community, there is research that shows that we trust voting in person more than voting by mail. And so having more options and additional days helps, right? Because, you know, election day, there could be certain barriers: people have to work, you know, childcare, there's so many different things, right - transportation. There's so many different things that become barriers, and having actually additional options, and then including, right, houses of worship, where people can, you know, have early voting locations that may be not too far from the church. And so, we've actually had some of our partners that are, you know, taking their vans and buses and chartering buses and caravans. And so, you know, it's really exciting, you know, because we understand that this is not only a one-time event, but there are other ways that people will be able to cast a ballot. But more so there'll be able to, you know, organize around different issues and, you know, push for changes in their community, right? You know, you see this momentum that we see of people coming together, you know, around voting, which we're excited about, but we also think about just the other ways that you know, people can continuously come together and organize and, and push for changes when it comes to, you know, economic justice.

I know the first day it was nearly 20,000 people voted on the first day of early voting. But I believe that that number as of yesterday, it was about 90,000. So those numbers have probably increased. It probably is over 100,000 so far that have participated in early voting. 

NJISJ's work on equal voting rights in New Jersey

The Institute, where I work in the Democracy and Justice Pillar, we have done so much incredible work to expand access to the ballot from online to automatic voter registration to ending all prison-based gerrymandering in New Jersey, and also the restoration of voting rights for 83,000 people on probation and parole. So I’m really fortunate to be an organization that's doing a lot of great work when it comes to voting rights to economic justice, and also changing the justice system.

Spreading the word on the importance of voter participation

You look around the country, over 5 million people are not allowed to vote due to some form of felony disenfranchisement. You know, voting is not just about voting on Election Day, but just having the ability to vote, having the ability to organize around your vote, having the ability to organize and push demands to elected officials, and, you know, your city council and your state legislator, because they impact these issues that we're talking about, right?

When we talk about economic injustices, who are we asking to fix that, right? Who are we asking to fix the criminal justice system? Who’s in charge of these systems, right? And historically, right, when we look at movements, many movements pushed these systems to change. But when we look historically at the journey here, we’re not where we need to be, when [we] talk about the liberation of our people, but we have come a long way.

Connect with NJISJ

You can go to njisj.org/vote, njisj.org/vote, and we have voter information and flyers that tell you about the five ways to vote, the important deadlines. We also have a frequently asked questions section that has mostly any question you may have about the election, we have an answer to. We also have our Souls to the Polls early voting flyers and a list of churches that are participating in the Souls to the Polls, you know, this upcoming weekend. And so, yeah, we have a lot of great resources there, which we encourage you to download, share, and reach out to us, you know, if there’s anything that we can do. We always do webinars. We're always speaking with community organizations just trying to, you know, inform communities about their rights and help protect, you know, access to the ballot here in New Jersey.

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Polls close today, Sunday, Oct. 31, at 6 p.m. Check here for general election voting guidelines from the Essex County Clerk's office, including a list of early voting sites in Newark below. 

• Essex County Complex Parking Garage, West Market Street Entrance, Newark 

• Cherry Blossom Welcome Center- Branch Brook Park, Heller Parkway & Mill St Newark 

• Weequahic Park Community Center-Meeker Ave. & Elizabeth Ave, Newark 

• West Side Park Community Center – 600 17th St, Newark