New Jersey’s Primary Election Day will be a week later in 2025.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill on New Year’s Eve to allow the week delay from June 3 to June 10 to avoid conflicting with the Jewish holiday Shavuot.
Shavuot 2025 begins at sundown on Sunday, June 1, and concludes at nightfall on Tuesday, June 3.
During the three-day Shavuot, observing Jews cannot work, write, drive, or use electronic devices, among other activities, which would have made voting and getting to polling places virtually impossible, claimed prominent New Jersey Jewish leaders.
The governor’s office issued a press release just after 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, announcing Murphy had signed Assembly Bill 5152 and its counterpart, Senate Bill 3965, to reschedule the June 3, 2025, primary election to June 10.
South Jersey’s largest Jewish organization applauded the move, claiming its members could now freely observe the holy Jewish holiday without compromising their constitutional right to vote.
The Cherry Hill-based, nonprofit Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey (JFSNJ) comprises several groups and agencies, including the Katz Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Community Foundation. The JFSNJ serves approximately 50,000 residents of Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties, according to the group’s website.
“We thank and applaud Governor Murphy for the change to this year’s Election Day as it provides those within the Jewish community who observe the holiday of Shavuot to exercise their right to vote,” Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, said in an email to Paradise Media late Tuesday.
Historically, Jewish leaders redesignated Shavuot as a holiday that primarily commemorates the revelation of the Torah. According to Jewish tradition, God gave these teachings to Moses on Mount Sinai as he led the Israelites through the desert.
“On Shavuot, a yom tov (good day), many Jews spend the day at synagogue, do not drive, or use electronic devices,” added CEO Weiss. “This change (of New Jersey’s Primary Election Day) ensures inclusivity for all.”
Murphy is in the final year of his second term and can not run again for governor.
The New Jersey primary election will decide which gubernatorial candidates – both Republican and Democrat – will advance to November’s general election to become New Jersey’s next governor, among other contests throughout the state.
According to recent reports, at least 10 candidates are running to replace Murphy.
Cherry Hill Township Mayor David Fleisher, who frequently references the need for inclusivity and diversity at bi-monthly City Council meetings, praised Gov. Murphy’s action to move the pivotal primary election to June 10.
“This is a logical, bipartisan solution that helps ensure all voters have the opportunity to participate in the primary and engage in our democratic process,” Fleisher said in an email on Tuesday.
New Jersey’s primaries are traditionally held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June.The journey to move this year’s primary began early last month and moved lightning quick after all three leaders in the New Jersey Statehouse got behind it.
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, and everyone deserves the freedom to have their voice heard at the ballot box. We have an obligation to encourage participation and ensure everyone can participate and trust our electoral system,” Gov. Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D.-Union, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said in a joint statement on Dec. 12, 2024.
“We cannot allow deeply held and legitimate religious beliefs to become a barrier to voting. We support moving the 2025 primary to June 10 and will work together to accomplish that goal,” they said in the same Dec. 12 statement.
On the same day, Scutari and Sen. Jim Beach, D-Camden, introduced legislation in the state Senate that would move the 2025 primary election date to June 10.
“This will allow members of the Orthodox Jewish community to fully participate in the primary election, including the ability to cast in-person ballots on Election Day,” Scutari said after introducing S-3965.
The state Senate and Assembly overwhelmingly passed the bill on Dec.19, paving the way for Gov. Murphy to sign it into law.
That happened on Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve.
Under the bill, the Secretary of State must inform all county clerks, county boards of election, superintendents of elections, municipal clerks, and the public of the rescheduled primary election day no later than seven days after the bill becomes law.
In this case, that would be by Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
