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82% of New Jersey Residents Support Voter ID, Rutgers Poll Finds

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New jersey residents expressed broad support for voter identification and citizenship documentation in a rutgers-eagleton poll.
New Jersey residents expressed broad support for voter identification and citizenship documentation in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. A woman showing identification to vote. Photo by Brian T. Young

Support for voting requirements crosses party lines, while Republicans express the greatest doubts about ballot accuracy ahead of November’s election.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — As Trenton Democrats continue to fight a voter ID bill, a new poll shows most New Jersey voters want voter ID at the polls.

More than eight in 10 New Jersey residents support requiring photo identification to vote in person, and 71% favor requiring proof of citizenship to register, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Tuesday, Oct. 13.

The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll also found that most residents trust ballots will be counted accurately this November, though confidence falls substantially for mail-in voting. The survey measured opinions among adults statewide, rather than registered voters alone.

The findings follow the state’s summer disclosure of about 6,600 noncitizen registrations through the Motor Vehicle Commission, according to the release. Researchers conducted the survey Sept. 24–27, before Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Oct. 7 that roughly 1,100 additional registration records required correction or review.

Of those surveyed, 63% strongly supported requiring a valid New Jersey driver’s license, state identification card or U.S. passport to vote in person, and 19% somewhat supported it. Seventeen percent opposed the requirement.

For documentary proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, 51% strongly supported the requirement and 20% somewhat supported it. A quarter opposed it.

Republicans show strongest support for tighter requirements

Republicans were far more emphatic than other groups: 95% strongly supported photo identification, compared with 64% of independents and 42% of Democrats. Strong support for citizenship documentation stood at 85% among Republicans, 54% among independents and 27% among Democrats.

“With 82% of New Jerseyans reportedly supporting voter ID, and Governor Sherrill expressing support for VoterID, was that decision consistent with public sentiment? I think not. So many residents scratch their heads when they find out how Dems really vote in Trenton,” said New Jersey Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn.

Democrats also registered the strongest opposition, with 27% strongly opposed to requiring citizenship documents and 19% strongly opposed to photo identification.

“Republicans are the most emphatic about tightening the rules and the least sure the system is working as it stands,” said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

Confidence drops for mail ballots

Seventy-four percent of residents were very or somewhat confident that ballots cast in person would be counted accurately, compared with 59% for mail ballots. Thirty-eight percent expressed little or no confidence in the accuracy of mail-ballot counting.

Two-thirds were very or somewhat confident that only eligible voters would be able to cast ballots.

The partisan divide was particularly wide among those expressing the highest confidence. Fifty-nine percent of Democrats were very confident that only eligible voters would cast ballots, compared with 28% of independents and 12% of Republicans.

Support for citizenship documentation reached 91% among residents who doubted that only eligible voters would participate, compared with 63% among those who expressed confidence.

“Residents who doubt the rolls are nearly unanimous about proof of citizenship. Residents who trust them still support it, just far less emphatically,” Koning said.

The poll surveyed 1,004 adults through the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel. The full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

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