Tuesday, Nov. 8 is Election Day. In New Jersey, you don't have to wait until Tuesday. Early voting in person has already started and many of us vote by mail.

It's obvious that there are issues with a voting system when even though you're only legally allowed to vote once, with no ID check at the polls, it's impossible for election officials to guarantee there is no fraud.

The challenge is the truth is hard to nail down because of all of the political noise. I'm old enough to remember when the Democrats refused to accept the results of the 2016 election creating a false narrative about Russian Collusion and beginning the tear-down campaign against President Trump.

When the GOP questioned the results of the 2020 contest, with some of the same language, they were taken down from social media, ridiculed by the news outlets, and canceled as conspiracy theorists.

We were joined by state Sen. Ed Durr, R-Gloucester, on the show and he had a great point.

The only way to guarantee that your vote WON'T count is to skip voting. Even if there is some fraud that takes place, an overwhelming turnout will take us past the fraud.

We also heard from a guy tired of backroom deals and morally bankrupt party leaders. My friend, although we have some MAJOR political differences, state Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, introduced me to Joe Abutel who is running for council in Colts Neck as a write-in candidate.

He joined us on the show to talk about standing up for the middle and working class being crushed by over-development and taxes.

I expect that we will have a bigger turnout on Tuesday than we saw in 2021.

Clearly, voters were not motivated by either candidate at the top of the ticket in 2021. Governor Murphy for his part is looking past NJ to a potential White House run and Jack Ciatterelli is blaming his 84,000-vote defeat on his campaign team being "too white".

Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli (AP photos)
Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli (AP photos)
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Embarrassing, I almost feel bad for him. But racism has no place in politics and I'm confident the GOP will choose more wisely in 2023 and in 2025 when the governor's office is open.

The first step is electing strong local candidates across towns throughout NJ on Tuesday. Then we'll be focused on a new majority in the state Senate in 2023, a new U.S. senator and president in 2024, and let's see what happens in 2025.

One of the great things about the upcoming election is the hundreds of brand-new, first-time candidates who care enough about their communities to get involved.

One candidate Sherry Nardolillo, speaks for thousands of parents across the Garden State who have had enough of "politics as usual." She's running for Morris Township council and joined us on the show.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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