Tonight on NJPBS News, voter registration problems deepening once again in our state.

Governor Mikey Sherrill announcing hundreds of additional improper registrations with the midterms now less than a month away.

We'll have a full report tonight.

And as gang rape allegations at Cornell University continue to roil that campus and the country, Princeton University students are taking action, asking Princeton to stand in solidarity with the accuser in the Cornell case and to update its own sexual assault policies.

We talked to the student government leaders behind that effort.

And starting this Sunday, it will be another five-week-long headache for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey Transit customers.

As that massive project continues to replace the old Portal North Bridge in Jersey, customers can expect serious disruptions and service changes.

Tonight, we talk with the CEO of New Jersey Transit as commuters once again brace for a very tough future.

A few weeks.

If the trains will not be available, I don't have an option to walk from home, so it will be a real disruption for me.

NJPBS News starts now.

This is NJPBS News with Rob Nelson.

The issue of election integrity here in Jersey has now been reignited after Governor Sherrill announced hundreds more improper voter registrations.

This time around, the issue, though, is not about noncitizens, but instead those who were ineligible to vote because of their age or criminal background.

The news comes weeks before the midterms and just a few months after the state announced thousands of noncitizens were incorrectly allowed to register, all because of a software problem at the Motor Vehicle Commission.

Meantime, Republicans, they wasted little time pouncing on this latest problem and are again calling for reforms and more investigation.

NJPBS News contributor Asha McKenzie has the full story.

Just weeks before the midterm elections, Governor Sherrill revealing more errors with voter registration at the state's Motor Vehicle Commission.

This comes months after alarming details emerged that the same software over a one-year period added more than 6,000 people to the voter rolls who self-identified as noncitizens.

Nearly 400 of them did, in fact, cast a ballot.

With this week's revelation, the state's top Republican is demanding more answers.

You can't go through this process and only release information through press releases.

Senator Anthony Bucco says the public deserves to see the details of the investigation.

It's really time that we truly get transparent and release the portions of the report that's being conducted that explains how this happened, when it happened.

Did any of these folks actually vote?

This latest review found two more problems, neither involving noncitizens.

The first issue with an age eligibility prompt.

Between June 2023 and June 2024, about 750 people, though of age, answered no to an age eligibility question, but their registrations were still processed, now deemed not legally valid.

50 of them voted.

The second issue, improper registration connected to MVC re-entry events dating back to 2016.

The state says some people were registered to vote while still serving sentences for indictable offenses.

And separately, about 60 people are still incarcerated and will be reviewed.

The governor says the state is moving away from the current system and adding new safeguards, including a daily audit to make sure voter registration records match customers' responses.

The state also plans to make the registration process clear, including expanding language and translation support.

Bucco says the daily audit is a step in the right direction, but argues the state needs to do more than that.

He's pushing legislation that he believes would make this process more secure.

Now that would accomplish three things.

One, would by law require that audit.

Two, would implement voter ID.

And three, would completely eliminate the automatic voter registration at motor vehicles.

But with the state still reviewing some of these registrations, questions remain if system reform will be enough to prevent it from happening again.

Aisha McKenzie and J.P.B.S.

News.

Well, warning that our next story might be disturbing to some.

A sexual assault case at Cornell University is now prompting students at Princeton to demand changes on their campus.

A former Cornell student, identified in court papers as only Jane Doe, alleges she was drugged and then sexually assaulted by several men at a fraternity house back in 2024.

Seven former students are named as defendants in her civil lawsuit.

They have denied wrongdoing or disputed their involvement.

Cornell says it conducted a Title IX investigation, disciplined students, and shut down the fraternity chapter.

The criminal investigation has now been reopened and the university has agreed to an independent review.

At Princeton, the undergraduate student government there has unanimously approved a statement calling on the university to publicly support Jane Doe and to reform its own process for handling sexual misconduct complaints.

Joining us now here on the show, Isaac Barsoom, chair of Princeton's U Council, and Marvel, Jim Roth, treasurer of Princeton's undergraduate student government.

We thank you both for being here on this disturbing, seems like an understatement case.

And this certainly has exploded well beyond the campus of Cornell and has the nation upset and talking and wondering how we can do better than what we've seen there at Cornell.

Let's start with just the basic question first.

Marvel, explain a little bit about exactly what you want Princeton to do.

Yeah, so thank you for having us on.

It's a very serious case.

And first, we just want the university, as we have, to express solidarity with Jane Doe and to acknowledge that Cornell was not, what they have done for her was negligent.

We also want the university to reform its own policies relating to Title IX and its own sexual misconduct policies.

We want to reform the alternate resolution process, particularly we hope the university will start treating survivors as those that they are prioritizing, as opposed to the university's own image that they present externally.

And Isaac, if the university agrees to those changes, I know you guys have a response, we'll get to that very shortly.

What's the end game here?

You want students at Princeton, God forbid, if they are a victim of some kind of assault there, the end game is to have that victim face what kind of process that you feel is not in place now?

Yeah, so of course, the end game ultimately is to end sexual violence and sexual misconduct on Princeton's campus by changing the culture here.

And I think that this is one way to begin that, but by no means sort of the last step in that process.

For now, the changes that we're calling on would involve students who experience sexual misconduct.

It would give them the opportunity to face a more just process when they go to the university seeking help, rather than facing what they currently face, which is a choice of two different options.

They can pick the Title IX process, which is long and arduous and often results in them feeling disregarded or even investigated themselves.

Or they can pick the alternative resolution process, which involves a mutual understanding and a mutual agreement between the survivor and the person who committed the sexual misconduct as to what should happen going forward.

But that process doesn't result in survivors getting the justice that they deserve for what has happened to them.

It is rather elected in order to, you know, make their process more expedient so that they can avoid this really arduous and harmful Title IX process.

So for now, we want these processes to work for survivors, as Marble said, rather than for respondents.

But going forward, we aim to change the culture entirely and end sexual misconduct on campus.

And obviously this is this issue has gripped Cornell.

And now the investigation has been reopened, as we said a second ago.

So sitting there in Princeton, obviously that is not the scene of where all of this unfolded.

What made you want to act there on your own campus?

And I know it's a tough question, but do either one of you know people who have been assaulted there at Princeton, who on a personal level and were not satisfied with the treatment or with the way the case proceeded?

What made you want to act on that campus?

What made you want to act on that campus?

It's a difficult question.

I think there was, as we referenced in the letter, in 2019, there was a compilation of students in who were fighting for Title IX reform.

And they compiled over 30 testimonies of students about their grievances with the Title IX process at Princeton.

Since then, Princeton went and establishes the alternate resolution process, which is also insufficient.

I think it is.

I personally do know people that have gone through the Title IX process and have not felt that it was sufficient.

I would say that this is something that is true across most college campuses, but as representatives of our student government, we felt that it was a statement that we could make.

We also noted that a statement that Cornell student government made in, it was one of their resolutions about Greek life and condemning it, has been cited in Jane Doe's civil case.

And so in that lawsuit, her lawyers are citing that as a reason for why Cornell should have been aware of these faults of Greek life.

And therefore, we felt that should a case like that blow up at Princeton, which it could, we would hope that this sort of statement that we were able to put forth, and we are very grateful to our peers in the student government who unanimously approved it.

And we hope that that can be something that can be used to prove that the administration should know that this is a concern of ours and they should be aware in making changes.

And speaking of that, you guys did get at least some, this measure came out of student government on the 4th.

You gave Princeton until today, the 8th, to respond.

You did get a response yesterday on the 7th.

Isaac, talk about that response because you mentioned to me earlier, you didn't quite find it satisfactory.

Yeah, absolutely.

So in the response that we received from Princeton, which was from the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity, Michelle Minter, and cited a statement by university spokesperson, Michael Hotchkiss, which was originally made, I should note, to the Daily Princetonian, our campus newspaper, and not to us as representatives of undergraduates.

The university failed to take accountability for any of the sort of policy failures that we point out in our letter.

Princeton consistently, as I mentioned before, the university's report disregards and ignores survivors of sexual misconduct and prioritizes keeping its own image clean over sort of the justice that can be given to survivors.

And in this letter, or in this response, I should say, from the Vice Provost and from the University Spokesperson, we see a continuation of this same trend.

The University Spokesperson and the Vice Provost both refer to the Cornell case as if it's a Cornell case as if it is an isolated incident, whereas we recognize it as part of a system that needs to be changed.

And a system that exists both at Cornell and at Princeton.

And they also say that, you know, they refer to the university campus regretting sort of how sexual misconduct on campus.

But we recognize that the university campus can't feel anything.

And our administrators have not acknowledged that they regret anything about the way that the system exists at Princeton at all.

Well, you guys have made your position clear and pretty much challenged the university to do something.

You have back an initial response that you're not happy with.

So as this continues to progress, please keep us updated.

We want to follow this and see if you're able to get some satisfaction and kind of how Princeton handles this now that student government is making this very concerted push.

We want to thank you for for getting us some time and thank you for the work you're trying to do on behalf of preventing someone else from living through what Jane Doe says she endured.

So Isaac Barsoom and Marvel Jim Roth, both class of '28.

Again, many thanks for being here and come back and keep us updated.

Sounds like this story is just beginning in a lot of ways.

Thank you both.

Thank you so much for having us.

Thank you for having us.

And with that, I do want to read you that first full response that Princeton did released yesterday to give you a sense of what the university said in full.

It reads as follows.

We know that news and national conversation about the horrifying incident at Cornell University in 2024 has deeply impacted our students.

Our priority at this time is to support individuals who are personally affected and to encourage all members of our community to engage in university initiatives to prevent sexual misconduct, report it when it occurs and provide support to victims.

Time for tonight's roundabout.

And first up, the first and only debate between current Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican attorney Justin Murphy.

That debate set for tonight.

Booker running for his third term.

Murphy previously ran for Senate two years ago but finished third in the primary.

He's considered very much a long shot to win as Booker has won his previous elections by double digits and is expected to do the same this time around.

We'll have a full debate recap on our Friday newscast.

Also, long time Hudson County lawmaker Sandra Cunningham has passed away.

She was the first woman from Hudson County to serve in the state Senate and she worked her way up to become Senate president pro tempore.

She represented parts of Jersey City and Bayonne and actually began her career in part due to her husband Glenn Cunningham, who was the first black mayor of Jersey City back in 2001.

Cunningham became a state senator in 07 after winning a special election and she would go on to serve for 16 years, easily winning re-election no matter the politics of the time.

Cunningham suffered from a lengthy illness and passed away at age.

76.

An illegal gambling ring was busted in Trenton earlier this week.

Police arrested 33 year old Harry Amante in Philadelphia while also seizing some 70 slot machines around the Trenton area.

Places like barber shops and corner stores, police say.

State police also say they got a tip back in November of 25 about those illegal slot machines and have been tracking the suspect ever since.

They also say none of these businesses had a license for those machines and they were given summonses as a result.

Meantime, police say the suspect, well, he was making up to 50 grand a month.

They also say none of these businesses had a license for those machines and they were given summonses as a result.

Meantime, police say the suspect, well, he was making up to 50 grand a month from the alleged ring.

And that's your roundabout for this Thursday night.

Well, if you take New Jersey transit into New York, your commute is about to change big time.

And for many riders, that commute's about to get a whole lot longer.

Starting on Sunday, October 11th, nearly every New Jersey transit rail line will operate on a modified schedule.

And it's going to go on like this for five weeks.

New Jersey transit riders went through this very same drill back in the summer and previous winter.

And here we go again.

Well, NJ Transit, I feel like she's kind of known for being a little bit slow.

So I guess, yeah, I'm worried about, you know, people getting confused as they get used to it or more slowdowns on NJ Transit.

The biggest disruption will be for weekday Midtown direct riders on the Morris and Essex, Gladstone and Montclair Boonton lines.

Those trains will be diverted to Hoboken, forcing passengers to transfer to the path or ferry or a bus to reach Manhattan.

NJ Transit is even urging riders to simply work from home or at least avoid the busiest travel times during that five-week period if they can.

Well, I spoke with NJ Transit President and CEO Chris Calori about what all of this means and just how rough this will be for folks commuting into the city.

Mr.

Calori, thanks so much for giving us some time.

We certainly appreciate it.

We know how busy you stay.

So let's jump kind of right into it here.

We're starting Sunday, kind of round two of massive service changes and disruptions because of the Portal North Bridge project, which will be a major improvement.

But this is one of the hiccups along the way to get to that.

Hundreds of thousands of riders in North Jersey, of course, bracing for round two of this.

They went through the same thing back in the winter.

So I guess I just want to start with what lesson did you learn from round one earlier this year that you're applying to all of this as we get ready to do it all over again?

Absolutely.

First of all, good to be with you, Rob.

Second, this is a repeat of what we did in the spring.

What we found to be successful in the spring was that we communicated more than we've ever done for any other project.

And we've been doing the same for this project.

And number two is we had ambassadors at stations throughout the system to tell our riding public what they should expect as they are starting their commute.

Once people get to understand the pattern of service for the first week, then I think we go into an autopilot.

What made it challenging last time was the weather was incredibly challenging.

Yes.

We had a couple of big storms that interrupted our work.

One thing we have tried to do this time around is to make sure we have all the materials needed for this construction is on site.

So we don't have to worry about any supply chain issues.

Look, we can't control mother nature, but at least we can control the materials we need and the supplies we need to get the work done.

Absolutely.

And just so folks have to have a takeaway from our conversation today to get all the details and all the changes and they can begin to map out their commute for the next five weeks.

Where is the one definitive source you would tell your customers to go?

The app is the New Jersey Transit app, which almost 60 percent of our riders use right now is a great place to do it.

If not, obviously, the website, New Jersey Transit website has very in-depth details on what people can do.

Those two things are the primary vehicles.

But as I said, if they do happen to show up this weekend or Monday morning, they need to know where they're going.

There will be people there to help as well.

Very nice.

And just take about 30 seconds to remind folks of the greater good once we get past all of this in terms of that new track coming online.

And what it should mean, or at least what has been promised to mean for the commute for folks trying to get into Penn Station.

So people are understandably worried about the inconvenience they're going to experience for the next five weeks.

I want to say, think about the inconvenience you've been experiencing for the last 30 years.

This bridge has been an extraordinary challenge that has interrupted multiple commutes of people going back almost 20 to 30 years.

This, what I've said in the past, is if you give us this five weeks, this bridge will not be a problem again for the next 100 years.

And I think that's the way to think about it.

All right, now you know that soundbite will live on forever.

That's a 100-year promise.

I'll be long gone and dead and gone, but hopefully generations to come will thank this governor and all the people who worked so hard to fund this project.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And listen, are you pretty confident in, I mean, one of the big changes here is they can't get directly to Penn Station.

So folks really have to go through Hoboken to get into Manhattan.

Are you confident in Hoboken's capacity to handle the influx?

I know this is round two, but are they ready to do it all over again?

It's a great question.

I just want to clarify, that is only for Midtown direct trains.

So those trains will go to Hoboken.

Northeast corridor trains will still go to Penn Station, and so will the coastline trains.

So just to be clear on that, it's equally important, when I was there in Hoboken, last time we did this, the volume of people coming there seemed very high.

But interestingly enough, it was equal to or slightly less than what was pre-COVID levels.

So the station has the capacity, the trains have the capacity, and we just, I know the surge will look very big, but I just want people to reach back into their memory banks.

This was no different than it was before COVID.

And last question on this topic, are you very, what is your confidence level that November 15th, as promised, it will wrap up and we'll get back to the normal state of play?

So we are working very close to you with Amtrak, who's our partner in this project.

One thing I'll say to you is, for those events, construction events, that we need to focus on, that are within our control, I'm very confident we can get it done.

If Mother Nature decides to throw us a curveball, like it is this Sunday and Monday, by the way, there's supposed to be a massive rainstorm that's supposed to start exactly Sunday night, and it's going to sit on New Jersey for, what, 12 to 15 hours?

Let's see what kind of impact that has.

Ah, yes.

The rain continues.

No, we'll see.

And good luck to everyone dealing with this project and rain, a lot of it on the same day.

Let me shift gears briefly for the time we have left.

These 374 new cars that we, us New Jersey, we, New Jersey Transit riders, can't wait to see.

This whole project goes back to 2018.

We're talking about $2 billion.

40 new cars were supposed to be in service this year.

Are we on line?

Are we on the time frame for that to happen?

Because I would love to see one of these new rail cars finally.

My hope is that we will have the very first train car set in service by December.

And that will be the start of the delivery of the brand new cars.

Look, it's interesting.

This is a larger conversation in the nation about how many suppliers there are for rail cars.

There's only a couple.

And the fact that these orders were placed in 2018.

I've been to this job for about 18 months now.

And I've been harping on Alston for every month and every week on where these rail cars are.

Because I want to see them as well.

The governor has committed to modernize the entire system.

I know our customers are waiting to see it.

So I am anxious to see the first rail cars go into service as early as this is.

All right.

All right.

So at least a few new cars in operation by the end of this year.

That's still, that's what I heard.

That's what you heard.

And I'm on it.

And let's see how Alston performs.

And last question here.

I hear a lot of folks, my fellow New Jersey residents, they all have their gripes about the system you run, sir.

You know that.

And the chief complaint always seems to be reliability.

You know, it just, things change.

I don't know.

The app isn't updating.

In 30 seconds, what would you tell folks who just feel frustrated on a regular basis by NJT?

As a rail commuter myself, I understand that frustration.

What this governor has said is, we're going to do, modernize the infrastructure, portal bridge.

We're going to modernize rail cars, which are built in the 1970s.

She's doing that now.

And she's saying, we're going to build a more real-time available information so people know where their trains and buses are.

That's how you build a reliable system.

And that's what we're committing to do.

And finish this sentence.

Under my leadership, the average New Jersey transit rider will feel and see a difference in their experience by what date?

The first rail car will be here in December.

So hopefully, by then, they'll see the first inkling of what a new, modern rail car will look like.

And from that point on until 2031, we're already doing that.

Secondly, right now, right at this very moment, we're getting 15 new buses delivered every single month.

So bus riders are already seeing it.

All right, Mr.

Glory, thank you so much for giving us some time.

Again, you're always busy, we know, and we're all rooting for you to make the system better for the hundreds of thousands of folks like me and all across Jersey who depend on it.

So thanks for giving us a few minutes.

And please come back and keep us up to date on where things stand and the progress you're making.

Thank you, Ruhab.

Thank you.

And to our viewers out there, please keep us posted on how your commute is going.

We want to hear your stories, see your pictures.

So head to njpbs.org, give us some feedback, let us know how it's going out there for the next few weeks.

Meantime, thanks so much for watching us here at NJPBS News.

We will see you right back here tomorrow.

Have a good night, Jersey.