Some 17-year-olds can vote in NJ-11 primary next week

Seventeen-year-olds in New Jersey’s 11th district who turn eighteen by April 16 are eligible to vote in next week’s special primary election for Mikie Sherrill’s congressional seat.

This marks the implementation of a new state law sponsored by State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick), allowing people eligible to vote in a general election to vote in a primary at 17, as long as they reach the legal voting age by the general election.

The new law took effect on January, opening the 11th district primary to eligible seventeen-year-olds for the first time. Over 1,500 17-year-olds are permitted to vote on February 5 to pick nominee.

Early voting begins tomorrow.

The technology needed to update the Statewide Voter Registration System was not initially set to be updated in time for the NJ-11 special, but election officials fast-tracked the schedule to be in compliance with state law.

Eleven Democrats are running in next week’s primary to succeed Sherrill, who resigned from the House in November following her election as New Jersey’s 57th governor: Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett; U.S. Army veteran Zach Beecher; lawyer and Trump impersonator J-L Cauvin; former Obama White House aide Cammie Croft; Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill; Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel; former Rep. Tom Malinowski; former Bernie Sanders for President political director Analilia Mejia; Chatham Township Committeeman Justin Strickland; former Lt. Governor Tahesha Way; and newcomer Anna Lee Williams.  Two others – Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis and former congressional aide Marc Chaaban – have withdrawn from the race but their names remain on the ballot.

The winner with face Republican Joe Hathaway, the mayor of Randolph, in the April 16 special election.