Livingston's Township Council passed a proclamation Monday, Sept. 14, declaring the township's commitment to free and fair elections and citing concerns about voting rights suppression nationwide.

Mayor Shawn Klein read the proclamation aloud at the council meeting, the day before National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

"The right to vote is being suppressed and subverted in this country through attempts to restrict American's access to the ballot, thereby rolling back decades of progress in voting rights," Klein read from the proclamation, according to the West Essex Tribune.

Klein declared Sept. 14, 2026, as National Voter Registration Day in Livingston and affirmed the township's commitment to upholding free and fair elections, urging all eligible residents to register and participate.

National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic initiative established in 2012 to encourage Americans to register, check their status and update their information.

The proclamation passed as voting access remains a contested issue in New Jersey. A software error in the state's voter registration system, which ran for a year starting in July 2023, allowed about 6,600 noncitizens to register to vote, according to NJ Spotlight News. Roughly 400 of those registrants voted in at least one election.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched a probe into the error in July 2026. A congressional hearing on the matter was held Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The proclamation was one of several items on the Sept. 14 agenda.

Separately, the advocacy group TOVA held a "Power Up the Vote" event in Livingston on Tuesday, Sept. 15, featuring speakers on ranked-choice voting and a letter-writing effort focused on voter turnout, according to TAPinto.

New Jersey residents who want to vote in the Nov. 3 general election must register by Oct. 13, according to the New Jersey Division of Elections. Residents can check their registration status or register online through the state's voter registration portal at voter.svrs.nj.gov.