The New Jersey Million Voters Project (NJMVP) and its partners announced today the results of the state’s largest nonpartisan voter outreach program in history, which reached more than 694,000 New Jersey residents out of more than 1.17 million outreach attempts through door knocking, phone calls, and texting in 20 counties across the state.
The coalition’s efforts were powered by 13 organizations — including Make the Road New Jersey, AAPI New Jersey, Clinton Hill Community Action, The Gem Project, Latino Action Network Foundation, League of Women Voters of New Jersey, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Institute of Social Justice, Newark NAACP, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Salvation and Social Justice, The Urban League, and We The People Coalition — along with nearly 600 canvassers and volunteers who worked collaboratively across 21 counties to reach voters in every corner of the state. Together, they built the largest nonpartisan grassroots civic engagement effort in New Jersey focused on low-propensity voters, particularly immigrants, people of color, and potential youth voters.
“We are proud to have met the urgency of this historic moment in our state and our nation’s history to activate people across New Jersey to fight for a better future for themselves and their families,” said NJMVP program director Arati Kreibich. “Our grassroots partners fanned out across the state, knocking on doors, making phone calls and sending texts to their friends and neighbors, listening to their concerns and giving them the information they needed to fully participate in our political process. And we’re ecstatic at the results, which pushed candidates up and down the ballot to focus on how their policies would directly impact the lives of working families across New Jersey.”
Counties with the highest levels of NJMVP outreach saw stunning 124% to 136% increases in voter turnout compared to 2021 levels, demonstrating the impact of this approach.
NJVMP was founded in the runup to this year’s gubernatorial election by Make the Road New Jersey, which was seeking to capitalize on historic opportunities to expand the power of working families following the abolition of the corrupt county line. With a fairer ballot design now in place, working families across the state have a clearer path to make their voices heard, hold politicians accountable, and take power back from corporate special interests. NJMVP was built to engage these voters, and especially to reach those who sat out the 2024 general election—and at least one other recent election—helping re-engage communities that have increasingly opted out of a political process they felt did not reflect their needs or priorities
The effort reached residents across diverse regions, with top outreach counties including Middlesex (142,349), Bergen (108,052), Essex (79,141), Hudson (66,463), and Union (48,656). Within these counties, canvassers focused on towns like Newark, Elizabeth, New Brunswick and Passaic, that had high numbers of prospective voters but traditionally low turnout.
Using a listening-first, nonpartisan approach, canvassers held over 14,000 conversations with voters to build trust, identify low propensity voter priorities, and help drive voter turnout to record-breaking levels in this year’s general election.
These results built off NJVMP’s impressive impact in the June primary. By meeting voters where they were and listening deeply to their experiences, NJMVP partners doubled turnout among low-propensity targets to nearly 3% in that contest, a remarkable achievement given that these were voters historically least likely to cast ballots.
While NJMVP canvassers reached diverse communities across the state, common threads emerged across racial, geographic, and socioeconomic lines — information that must inform our policymakers as they prepare to take office next year.
Top voter concerns centered around the need for affordable housing and access to affordable healthcare and relief from increased cost of living for working families across New Jersey. This underscores the need for our elected leaders to quickly deliver tangible solutions for working families in the short term while tackling rising inequality in the long term.
Our work with NJMVP demonstrates that grassroots, nonpartisan engagement can spark hope, participation, and trust, even in challenging political times.
““The overwhelming turnout in this month’s election shows that New Jersey voters are eager to shape their future,” said Nedia Morsy, Director of Make the Road New Jersey. “People across the state want leaders who listen, respond to community needs, and focus on practical solutions that improve daily life. That includes defending immigrant families, who are facing increasing threats and dehumanizing rhetoric nationwide. We look forward to working with newly elected officials at every level to ensure voters’ priorities remain front and center and that this momentum carries into the years ahead.”