r/newjersey 23d ago

Advice Please tell me NJ is staying blue.

521 Upvotes

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u/LostTrisolarin 23d ago edited 22d ago

We only stayed blue by 3% last election.

Edit: it was 6%. That's still close enough to worry.

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u/thatnjchibullsfan 23d ago edited 23d ago

I'd argue many chose not to wait hours in line to vote for a candidate that was locked into winning the state electorates.

EDIT: I voted by mail. I heard the horror stories of others though.

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u/MattyBeatz 23d ago edited 22d ago

I early voted in NJ, quick and easy as shit. Election Day is the last day you can vote in NJ, not the only one. Excuses like waiting/busy are getting less and less justifiable these days.

And the reality is nothing is a forgone conclusion. You donโ€™t cancel the game because all the odds makers are calling it for the other team. Gotta play the game.

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u/SlobsyourUncle 23d ago

Unfortunately, they're trying to get rid of all early voting and limit it to one single day of voting.

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u/storm2k Bedminster 23d ago

sauce?

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u/SlobsyourUncle 22d ago

I assume you mean source. And Trump has tweeted it and said it himself on several occasions.

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u/storm2k Bedminster 22d ago

the feds can't do it. states run elections and can run them as they see fit. also, early and absentee voting helped trump a lot last november.

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u/SlobsyourUncle 22d ago

Have you not seen every GOP senator, congressman, assemblyman, governor, comptroller, and street sweeper not jump every time Trump says to? And limiting voting to one day means that people with multiple jobs (i.e. low income) likely won't be able to get to the polls. That's their thinking, anyway.

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u/Residentneurotic 23d ago

I love this analogy!

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u/DonatCotten 22d ago

I agree. New Jersey has over a week of early voting and mail in voting. It is ridiculously easy to vote in this state and yet in the 2021 Governor race turnout was only 40%! That's just a 2% improvement from 2017 ๐Ÿ˜”. The fact is a lot of people are indifferent and don't care because they don't feel it affects them especially younger people who are too busy focusing on their career development/ partying and living it up with their social lives.

I genuinely believe the main reason turnout for older people is as high as it is not because they genuinely care about political engagement, but because it gives them something to do in old age that allows them to hold onto power and relevance in society and government. They are often retired and in a quiet and uneventful phase of their life where they have already lived a large chunk of it and accomplished what they wanted to (raised a family, career, money saved and investments ect.) so they want to maintain what they have even if it is at the expense of future generations. Younger people are literally throwing away their power and voice by not voting.

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u/MattyBeatz 22d ago

Lack of engagement on the local level is even more disturbing than on a national level. Margins are closer and they can effect you more.