ICYMI: New Jersey Starts 2026 With Major Strides Towards More Accessible Elections & Effective Government

In Just One Month, New Jersey Significantly Strengthened State Election Policies, Appointed New Leadership at the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission

CHICAGO — New Jersey lawmakers have delivered several major wins for both constituents and election administrators in the first weeks of 2026. 

• Ballot cure. Outgoing Governor Phil Murphy last week signed a new cure process for mail ballots into law, ensuring voters are notified of fixable errors – like incomplete ballot certificates or improperly sealed envelopes – and given a chance to correct them. In past elections, thousands of ballots were rejected for these minor mistakes. 

• Permitting reform Executive Order. One of Governor Mikie Sherrill’s first executive orders focused on permitting reform – one of the issues Responsive Gov views as critical to ensuring democracy delivers more effectively for constituents. Executive Order 5 addresses permitting delays that increase costs and slow housing, infrastructure, and economic development in New Jersey by creating  a cross-agency permitting team, standardized review timelines (“shot clocks”), and a resident-facing permitting dashboard to improve efficiency and transparency in state government.

• Appointment of Responsive Gov’s Rosalie Johnson. Gov. Sherrill has appointed Rosalie Johnson to the position of Chief Administrator of the New Jersey MVC. As a Fellow with the Institute for Responsive Government, Rosalie provided state motor vehicle agencies with deep implementation guidance and support, based on years of expertise. She previously worked as Senior Deputy Director of the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles, leading implementation of Colorado’s automatic voter registration system, its Mobile ID program, and partnerships with the Department of Corrections to issue IDs to returning individuals.

• Secure Automatic Voter Registration (SAVR). Before leaving office, Gov. Murphy signed S1636 into law, critical legislation that establishes Secure Automatic Voter Registration (SAVR) in New Jersey, enhancing and modernizing the state’s current Partial Automatic Voter Registration (PAVR) system. 
  • The law updates how eligible residents are registered to vote when interacting with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC). 
    • For Real ID transactions, eligible citizens who provide documentation during their MVC transaction confirming their eligibility – such as a U.S. Passport– will be automatically registered to vote and receive a mailer from election officials that can be used to decline registration. 
    • If a registered voter provides a new name or address for their license or ID card, that information will be automatically used to update their voter registration record.
    • Anyone who provides a document establishing non-citizenship – such as a green card – will be automatically filtered out of any registration process. 
    • MVC transactions for people leaving prison will also incorporate voter registration opportunities, ensuring that people leaving prison have the opportunity to register to vote at the precise moment their right to vote is restored.

“New Jersey is showing what it looks like to build government systems that actually work – for voters and for election administrators,” said Sam Oliker-Friedland, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Responsive Government. “By addressing permitting, improving their ballot cure process, modernizing voter registration, and putting proven leadership in place at the MVC, New Jersey policymakers are delivering practical wins that make both New Jersey elections and government more efficient, more accessible, and more trustworthy.”

To speak further about recent progress made on elections and government administration in New Jersey, please contact dan@responsivegov.org. 

###

The Institute for Responsive Government is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to ensuring state and federal governments work effectively for the very people they serve. IRG provides data, research, and expertise to elected officials in order to find practical policy solutions that make government systems more efficient, accessible, and responsive.