FDU Poll Finds Voters Reject OPRA Overhaul

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ, April 12, 2024

It’s not often an overwhelming majority of New Jersey residents agree on something, but both Republicans and Democrats appear to be united in rejecting changes to the state’s Open Public Records Act.

A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll out on Friday found controversial changes to the act currently being considered by the legislature face serious skepticism from Garden State voters. Overall, 81% of registered voters in the poll said they support keeping the system as it is, rather than tightening access to public documents, as the bill proposes.

NJ Spotlight News spoke with Dan Cassino, executive director of Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll, for more on this debate.

“Honestly, when we tested versions of this question, we got a lot of push-back from our protesters saying, ‘well, that can’t possibly what this bill actually does,’” he said. “And so this was a very, very balanced version of this question. It’s still only 14% in favor of it [OPRA being changed].