Voters in NJ care more about vacation

New Jersey faces a rare political event this year: the primary for the election to fill one of New Jersey's Senate seats is both in an off year and at an off time. According to the 

New Jersey Star Ledger voters in New Jersey may turn out to the polls in close to record low numbers for the mid-August primary. Potential voters like Don Nociolo, a New Jersey resident, said he would not vote because the elections are in the middle of his vacation and he already knows that Newark Mayor Cory Booker will win.

This addresses two important issues we discussed in class: Since Booker has such a strong lead in the polls, voters have little faith that they can affect the outcome of the vote (meaning the benefit of voting decreases substantially). As well, voters on vacation have a higher cost to voting, because their next best alternative to voting is getting to relax on the sands at the beach. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's choice of an off-year, off-month primary will drive down voter turnout in New Jersey, but voters will be making rational decisons the whole time.