High School Students Could Shape New Jersey’s Next Election
With a January 15 registration deadline approaching, newly eligible 17- and 18-year-olds in NJ’s 11th District could play a decisive role, locally and in the 2026 midterms.
Way back in 2024, New Jersey passed a new law allowing young people who are 17 to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election. That law went into effect on January 1, 2026 and is about to get its first test run in the race to replace Mikie Sherrill in Congress.
Under the new law, 17-year-olds who live in NJ’s 11th Congressional District and who will be 18 by April 16, 2026 (and meet the other eligibility requirements) can register now and vote in both the primary and the general elections.
What impact can high school students have? Our answer: A lot.
Almost all high school seniors and many juniors are old enough to register or preregister right now. In the 11th Congressional District roughly 10,000 young people turn 18 every year.¹ That’s about 27 each day. There are more than 14,000 young people in the district who will be old enough to vote in the upcoming special election and who were not yet old enough to vote in 2024, and it’s going to be a crowded field.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has set a date for a special primary election on February 5, 2026 and for the special general election to replace Sherrill on April 16, 2026. There will be six days of in-person early voting for the special primary election, spanning January 29, 2026 through February 3, 2026, and nine days of in-person early voting for the special general election, spanning April 6, 2026 through April 14, 2026.
So, what are the prospects and opportunities for youth participation?
Young people can preregister to vote in New Jersey beginning at age 17. That means almost all high school seniors and many juniors are old enough to register or preregister in New Jersey right now.
New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District is centered in Morris County and includes portions of Essex and Passaic Counties as well. Statewide, under 50% of New Jersey 18-year-olds are registered to vote, compared to over 80% of New Jersey voters aged 45+.²
New Jersey offers online voter registration. In order to use the state’s online systems, registrants must have either a New Jersey driver’s license or state ID or the ability to sign on a screen or upload a photo of their signature.
While the system won’t be accessible for everyone, it’s far better than systems in most states, which require either a driver’s license or state ID. Such systems exclude the 40% of 18-year-olds, and majority of 16- and 17-year-olds, who are old enough to register under their state law, but who who do not have these documents.
Another way that New Jersey law is designed to promote youth participation is express recognition of the need for high schools to promote voter registration. The High School Voter Registration Law (N.J.S.A. 18A:36-27) requires high school administrators to distribute voter registration and other materials to all eligible high school students before graduation to encourage students to register and vote. I wish every state had a law like that.
But even in states that haven’t come as far as New Jersey, young people can make a difference this year. Every congressional representative will be up for election in November 2026, plus US Senate seats, Governorships, and races for thousands of state legislative and local offices. Many states have primaries this spring.
So, what does all this add up to for high school students who want to make their voices heard this year, whether in New Jersey or beyond? It means graduation is our last, best chance to make sure all seniors are registered before they step into their futures.
Register here today.
The January 15 and March 26, 2026 registration deadlines for the primary and general elections in NJ, as well as deadlines in other states will arrive before you know it. Don’t wait. If you’re not in the voter file, candidates and campaigns think you don’t care.Get trained to help others register.
The Civics Center offers free training and resources for high school students and educators to learn how to run a nonpartisan voter registration drive in their school. We’ll send up a dedicated QR Code for your school, so you can track progress, plus Democracy in a Box, with other materials for your drive.Share this post.
Many people still don’t know about preregistration or the ability of 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections in New Jersey. Voter registration deadlines and opportunities for high school voter registration don’t get the attention they deserve. We wish we had a budget to run a massive awareness campaign about these things. But we don’t. We do have one thing a budget can’t buy, however: You.