New Jersey voters and advocacy groups can now sue local governments over election practices they say disadvantage minority voters, under a law that Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, signed on July 2.
The John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act, named for the late Georgia congressman and civil rights leader, creates state-level protections that replace federal safeguards that supporters say were weakened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
Sherrill’s office said the signing makes New Jersey the first state to enact voting rights legislation following the court’s April decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which held that congressional districts drawn primarily based on race were unconstitutional.
Several other states before the Callais ruling signed their own Voting Rights Act (VRA) legislation, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Virginia, and Washington, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The law lets voters, advocacy groups, and the state attorney general sue local governments over election practices they say disadvantage minority voters—for example, moving polling sites or using at-large council elections that make it harder for those voters to elect their preferred candidates. Plaintiffs do not have to prove a government meant to discriminate, and courts can order a range of fixes.
Most of the law, including the right to sue over discriminatory election practices, takes effect Aug. 15, in time for this November’s general election.
The law additionally expands language assistance for voters with limited English proficiency, bars voter intimidation and deceptive election communications, and directs the state to create a public database of election information.
It also creates a new rule: If a court finds that a town discriminated against voters, that town must get state approval before changing how it runs elections. The rule counts only discrimination found after the law starts. That provision and those addressing access and databases don’t take effect until Oct. 1, 2027.
The Legislature passed the measure on June 30 along party lines, with the Assembly voting 57–21 and the Senate 25–14. Sponsors framed it as a response to federal action, citing the Trump administration’s and congressional Republicans’ push for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility [SAVE] America Act. That bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a photo voter ID when voting.
New Jersey Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, who sponsored the bill in the lower chamber, said the measure is a “clear mandate to not only protect but expand voting rights for Black voters and other voters of color who are disproportionately harmed by discriminatory practices and barriers to voting.”
“Today, New Jersey joins the growing movement of state voting rights acts. We are now the 10th state to pass a state VRA and—because we’re New Jersey and we don’t play—ours is one of the strongest in the country,” she said in a statement after the bill was signed. “By passing our own voting rights, we are making sure that New Jersey voters—especially Black and other voters of color—are protected more by our state law than by federal law.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which pushed for the bill since 2022, called the signing a victory. Associate Director of Civic Engagement Alejandra Sorto said in a statement that the law “will expand ballot access and enact some of the strongest state-level protections against tactics that suppress and dilute the political power of voters of color.”
Nearly all Republicans strongly opposed the measure.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia said in a post on X that the law creates an enforcement system “giving unelected political appointees massive authority over elections across the whole state,” and that it would let activists sue until a judge overturns election policies they oppose. She also faulted Democrats for advancing the bill while declining to hold a floor vote on a GOP-backed voter ID proposal.
Fantasia also argued that the law addresses a problem that does not exist in New Jersey, saying the state has consistent voter participation across demographic groups.
