Right now on PBS news, more than 400,000 new Jersey voters have already returned their mail in ballots.

And now the in-person rush o voters is beginning statewide.

It's going to be a nine day stretch for the state's fairly new early voting system.

So today, we'll talk with a county clerk to help voters know exactly what to expect.

And on top of that, we'll have a recap of last night's heated debate clash between the candidates in the second district, who sparred over everything from energy to the Epstein files.

Also, childcare costs continu to soar in Jersey, with parents, educators and advocate clamoring for the state to take action and give a little more relief after a state House rally this week.

How are lawmakers responding and will the economic pressure force caregivers to leave the profession or facilities to shut down altogether?

We'll have a full report.

Also social media can be a huge part of a teens life, but what is it doing to their mental health?

Well, new Jersey is now turning to Rutgers to find ou and to help develop solutions.

We're going to talk to a Rutgers professor leading a new center dedicated to social media research.

What is her vision for the project, and what more could we learn about what social media is really doing to our kids and J. News starts now.

This is NJ PBS news with Rob Nelson.

Well, the midterm elections are now less than two weeks away, and this weekend marks the start of in-perso early voting here in new Jersey.

The nine day voting period runs through November the 1st.

Now, our state's early voting system was just about a year old.

Back during the 2022 midterms.

So this time around, we could get a fuller picture of just how many New Jerseyans prefer to show up and vote in person, compared to the more than 400,000 who have already returned their mail in ballots.

So before you vote we do want to help those of you who may be heading to your local polling place in the coming days, s you know exactly what to expect.

Joining us now is Paula Salami, the Mercer County Clerk.

Paula, thanks so much for being with us.

We appreciate your time.

Thank you so much for having me.

So listen, I know that this is your busy season to, to say the least, an election year in early, early in-perso voting kicking off this weekend.

What?

Just to start lightly.

What is the one thing you really wan the public to understand first and foremost about how in-person early voting works in Jersey?

Well, it's a great convenience that we now offer this.

So you can go to any polling location for early voting within your county.

It is a little bit different than Election Day, where you have to go to your own polling location because for early voting starting Saturday, tomorrow, October 24th, you can go to an polling location in your county that is designated as an early voting location, and you can vote there, and it gives you the convenience of doing so prior to Election Day on your time, including weekend hours.

So it's really a really great opportunit for people to cast their votes.

I have taken advantage of early voting here in Jersey.

Other places I've lived.

I love it personally and it beats whatever madness may happen on November 3rd itself.

Just seems really convenient.

Is there any and good to know you can go anywhere in your county?

Doesn't have to be the you know, you have options there.

In other words, unlike Election Day, anything that folks need to bring with them.

Well, we suggest that you bring your sample ballot with you, which you should have received in the mail, or you may receive it within the next few days.

If you go to early vote and you have that you can actually use the barcode on the sample ballot in many jurisdictions to pull up your registration, so you don't have to work with poll workers to try to find your name.

But if you don't bring it, it's okay to, you know, you just need to be able to go in there and they will be able to find you and pull you up.

Well, that sounds easy enough.

Can't complain about that.

Now, for folks out ther who requested a mail in ballot but change their mind, said no, I'm going to go in person instead.

For whatever reason, they're allowed to do that, right?

Yes they are.

But if they do go to the polls and they vote that way.

The poll book will indicate that you were a mail in ballot voter, so you will have to cast your vote on a provisional ballot.

And that way, the Board of Elections can determine whether or not you actually attempted to vote twice, in which case they won't count that second vote.

So it's a provisional ballot that you would vote on.

Now, if you get there and you name is not on the voter list, what happens?

And it should be what happens then?

Well, you have two options.

First of all, you you should request to vote on a provisional ballot, and most places will allow you to do so.

But if they still refuse to allow you because you're not in the poll book, you can always ask to go to court.

And often the judge are standing by on election day and during the early voting period, and they will hear your case and determine whether or not you are legally registered voter.

And listen, you know as well as anybody there have been concerns and discussions and problems with the voter rolls here in Jersey.

The governor has been fairl transparent about all of that.

What can you what can you assurances, I guess, can you make or at least paint the pictur of how you make sure all of this happens, at least in your office, with the utmost integrity, that anyone who walks in their knows their vote will be counted and will be protected.

Thanks for asking.

I actually County Clerk's are not responsible for voter registration.

That' the Superintendent of Elections or the Board of Elections.

But I will tell you tha they all received a notification from the Secretary of State, Division of Elections, with a list of people that they didn't automatically delete, because those the governor's office of the Division of Elections went through.

And I guess they deleted out everybody they knew should not have been on the rolls.

And then anyone that was questionable, they sent to the specific counties and asked them to investigate those voters and then delete them if they felt that they needed to be deleted because they weren't legally registered.

So I feel very confident that now going into this election, they've done their jobs and w don't have people on the roles that are not supposed to be there legally.

All right.

Sounds like you have high confidence things will go well and steps are being take to make sure this is a a process of fairness and integrity and access, which is all equally important.

So, Paul Salami, the Mercer County Clerk thank you so much for your time.

Good luck over the next several days.

We know it's hectic, but it's democracy in action.

And that's that's a beautiful thing.

So thank you for being with us.

Thank you so much for having me.

And have a great day.

Thanks so much.

We're goin to stick with politics right now and talk about what happened last night, Republican Congressman Jef Andrew and Democratic challenger Zac Muhlach.

Well, they traded some heated exchanges during a debate in new Jersey second district.

This was their first and only meeting last night.

Van drew is defending his seat against muhlach, the mayor of Cape May.

The two clashed over a lot of things last night.

Tariffs, the war in Iran, energy policy.

Even the Epstein files were on center stage last night.

The race is drawing increased attention right now, as Democrats hope that a broader shift in their direction could help them pull off an upset on Election Day.

NJPW's new South Jersey reporter, Scott, was at the debate last night and has a full recap.

My opponent has sold out South Jerse to data centers to the Warren.

I ran to doubling our health insurance prices, all for a pathetic undying support to Donald Trump.

I'm sorry this has been suc a cranky an event for everybody.

It's about now.

No it's not.

It's about the fact that you can't tell the truth, my man.

That's what it's about.

Republican Congressman Jef Andrew and Democratic opponent Zachary Malik spen much of Thursday night in heated exchanges during their first and only debate on Friday.

You have a problem with the time again.

Time to tell you.

Been in office, watched yo watch the six on TV six times.

You voted for that?

I never voted for them.

Not true.

Either.

Don't come.

Now we're going to think I'll stay here all night.

Van drew has held the seat since 2019.

Recently, the Democrati Congressional Campaign Committee added the race to its districts and playlist, meaning they believe Andrew can be unseated in what is expected to be a strong election cycle for Democrats nationwide.

National hot button topics dominated the first and only debate between the two men, including the Epstein files.

He knew that some girls as young as 14 had been sexually assaulted, and he refused to sign the discharge petition.

He only signed it after his daddy, Trump, allowed him to do that.

And I was the sponsor of i well before President Trump said that he was going to release it.

Way before then there was only a handful of us.

So once again, hate to keep bringing it up on true and more Pinocchio stuff not on target.

There were also clashes over the Iran war.

He voted for the war in our Iran six times.

These didn't just happen.

We didn't just increase diesel fuel by 70%.

Exactly.

When the war started, he allowed it to happen.

He voted for it.

It is time to end this, and I believe that we will.

And we have to make sure we d it in such a way that we don't unhinge the Mideast and that we don't hurt our troops that we leave in an orderly way.

When it came to issues close to home, the candidates agreed that new Jersey shoreline need permanent solutions to erosion.

Look at what happened this year.

You had places in the middle of the season in August getting beach replenishment.

We need a comprehensive plan, a ten year plan that has a lot of utilitie and jetties and infrastructure.

So we know that it's always been a problem.

That's why my legislation to have a permanent fund that is replenished every year, that comes from the Gulf and from all the while, and gas manufacturers is a good plan.

Scott Mitchell, PBS new Jersey news.

All right.

Scott Minshall reporting.

Thank you Scott.

And we wanted to get just a little more insight on this second district race, and to find out if Mullock really has a shot here or is it more wishful thinking for the Democrats.

Joining us now from DC, Ben Washington, reporter for NJ, PBS Spotlight News.

As always, good to see you, Ben.

Listen, that's kind of the core point here.

But it seems to me that the race has gotten slightly more interesting than maybe people thought it was going to be.

But explain why you think essentially this is still a very white why Van drew is still in a very safe position.

This would be a seat that Democrats would love to flip.

There is a lot of deep vengeance Democrats feel toward Van Drew.

He campaigned as a Democrat in 2018.

He was a Democrat in the state legislature, and many will never forgive him for voting against certifying the 2020 presidential election.

But he still controls this seat very handily.

He whenever I see him, he always and then we talk campaign stuff.

He says, Ben, you know, I work, I'm out in the streets, I, I talk to people.

I am active around my district.

People know me.

And I think the key point her is that he won this seat in 24, just two years ago, by 17 points.

So the trend, if this election cycle were a little longer, maybe Democrats could build more steam, but this is still a van drew seemed to lose.

So it would seem that if there's any shot of him losing this blue wave we keep hearing about and talking about would have to be more of a of a blue tsunami for Van Drew to lose of this seat.

Is is that fair?

That's fair.

That's and that's actually what the political handicapper at the University of Virginia.

Crystal ball is the group.

They like the Cook Political Report for all those political nerds at home like myself, they moved Van Drew's race thi very recently, a few days ago, in favor of Mullick, but still safely within Van Drew's reach.

All right, well we will see what the voters do in just a few days, but we wanted to kind of just put some context around what we saw last night at that debate.

Appreciate your time, Ben.

NJ PBS Spotlight Washington reporter Ben Hillock again.

Many thanks to.

Appreciate it.

Same to you.

And on Election Day and night.

NJ Spotlight News and NJ PBS will be your election data.

Nerve center online and on streaming will be streaming election night coverage starting at 8:00 with the polls closed, and we'll have a full hour special report on YouTube.

So be sure to check in often as we get all the results and learn.

Ultimately what new Jersey decides.

Time now for the roundabout.

A quick look at headlines from all across the state, and it seems like everybody in Jersey is talking about this one.

A city council meeting in my home county of Burlington County almost ended in blows less than two weeks before its mayor faces reelection.

The whole thing caught on camera.

Take a look.

Pemberton Township mayo Matthew Bikini is seen charging toward a critic during a meeting Wednesday night and then verbally threatening the man.

Onlooker literally had to hold him back.

According to report from the Pine Barrens Tribune, the mayor says he snapped after hearing alleged insults about his family.

Will that criti who was resident Michael Salka.

He denies targeting the mayor's family and says his concerns are mor about the town's spending money.

And Sini was restrained before being escorted from the room.

No word yet on if any charges will be filed, but quite the scene there.

Oh, also, a Jerse real estate influencer is facing decades in prison after admitting to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.

Cesar Pina is know on the internet as flipping NJ.

Well, federal prosecutors sa Pina misused millions of dollars from investors, laundered drug money, and even bribed an unidentified Paterson official over a development project.

He pleaded guilty to four federal counts and is due back for sentencing in March.

Now to Atlantic City, where the world's first permanent microplastic removal system is up and running.

Tonight is designed to captur microplastics from wastewater.

The system's launch follows a pilot program that captured more than 58 million microplastic particles in about a year.

That's accordin to the press of Atlantic City.

The county utilities authority says it treats about 40 million gallons of wastewater every single day.

Everyone.

Why this is important.

It's because microplastics ar a major concern for all of us.

That's because when you ingested, they travel into your organs and that's where they cause cell damage and also carr dangerous chemicals or bacteria.

Governor Mike Sherrill visite a high school in Camden County to hear from students.

Month after the start of a statewide cell phone banned in schools, she stopped by Cherry Hill High School East on Thursday.

According to the new Jersey globe Cherry Hill superintendent well, she says, teachers are seeing stronger engagement with students.

Thanks to that new band and the holida season right around the corner.

But if you're looking for a taste of picture perfect Christmas you won't have to leave Jersey.

Hallmark says Cape May is one of its official Christmas towns.

It joins 24 other locations all around the U.S.. The ranking is a part of thei Merry Christmas Towns contest.

A panel of judges ranked the towns based on their neighborhood charm, their community spirit, and their holiday traditions.

A was a finalist in the contest, but Carlinville, Illinois, that's the town that took first place.

The fight over New Jersey's high child care cost has moved from the statehouse steps into the hearing room.

Parents, child care workers and advocates.

They all packed a joint assembly hearing with a message that the current system is squeezing families from both sides.

Many parents cannot afford care.

While some providers cannot afford to simply stay open, they're asking the stat to expand financial assistance and make more working families eligible for help.

NJ, PBS news, state Hous and central Jersey contributor Asia McKenzie was there as they took their case directly to lawmakers.

Affordable child care now for many new Jersey families, the high cost of child care is forcing them to make tough financial decisions, asking themselves, can I afford quality care for my child and still make ends meet?

There's no choice because in order to work, you have to have your child in a safe spot in order to have them in a safe space and you have to pay for it.

But just how much are parents paying across the state?

Full time care for an infant can cause families between 18,000 and $20,00 a year on average, and toddler care about $17,000 in some cases.

That is more than tuition at a state college, completely unaffordable for most families.

And yet they have to work, go to school, or a combination of both.

Now, the fight to make child care more affordable is heating up in Trenton.

Parents, advocates and child care providers, along with strong new Jersey, rallied outside the state House calling on state leaders to do one thing make child care help accessible to all.

Because it's not just hurting parents wallets, but providers bottom line as well.

I just lost two three year olds and that hurt me financially.

So much so that I had to go and take a part time job, which I didn't want to do.

But you have to do what you need to do to sustain your family.

The group is pushing to expand eligibility for New Jersey' Child Care Assistance Program, asking the governor to increas state funding so more families can qualify.

Two parents earning minimum wage in new Jersey earn too much to qualify for the Child Care Assistance Program, so we're asking the state for increased investment and expanded eligibility to help more families qualify for this critical support.

Advocates took that messag beyond the rally, packing this joint Assembly hearin to bring these concerns straight to lawmakers to address this growing affordability issue.

Because parents will, facing an impossible choice, pay the child care bill or pay the heating bill?

Quite a few providers are under enrolled, and so some of them are also facing closing.

And if these centers are no in the heart of the community, then our parent won't have access to these child care centers.

Is there a chance that ther will be anything in the future when it comes to bills, or pushing to make child care more affordable in new Jersey?

And that's one of the reason why we're having this hearing.

So we can come up wit some policy and some solutions.

Now the question is, how soon will lawmaker turn these concerns into policy and put more financial relief on the kitchen table for new Jersey families who desperately need it?

In Trenton, Ayesha McKenzie and PBS news.

Ayesha McKenzie.

Thank you so much for that report.

Meantime, for many parents, the question is not whether social media plays a role in their kids lives.

It is what that constan connection may be doing to them and how families and even the government can help.

Well, a new Jersey survey found that more than 4 in 10 teens spend at least four hours a day.

All day on social media.

But researchers say screen time alone does not tell the whole story.

Now, the state is investing a half $1 millio in a new Rutgers research center to study exactly how young people's online experiences impact everything from sleep and attention to literally their mental health.

The center will also test ways to reduce harmful use of social media, and give families and schools practical tools to help.

Jessica Hamilton is associate professor of psychology at Rutgers and directo of the new Jersey Social Media Research Center, and she is joining us now for this really exciting and also desperately needed endeavor.

We live in an age wher everyone's life is right here.

And you read so much about really the the effects of social media, and particularly on kids when they're impressionable and jus kind of coming into their own.

But the word that struck me in describing the center is why people get addicted, how it becomes addictive not just for kids, but for more than half of adults.

I'll raise my hand on that one to talk about the nature of what you're going to do, and how relates to why we're all so addicted to that stuff.

Yeah Thank you so much for having me.

I'm really excited to be here.

Talking about the new Jersey Social Media Research Center and what we can do to help people right now.

So the center is focuse on assessment, as you mentioned.

Right.

To better understand these impacts, and specifically the problematic social media use that affects so many teens and adults.

You know, while we often think it's just a young person problem, we know that many adults themselves have problematic social media us and they have these challenges.

So in terms of these platforms have been designed to capture our attention.

That is the goal of these platforms themselves and the companies who design them.

It is to keep us engaged.

And the algorithms are specifically designed to capture our attention.

And so in the new Jersey Social Media Research Center, we're aiming to better understand those specific features and provide the evidence to better figure out what we can do right now to mitigate those harms.

And you're going to obviously help run this center, but you've been involved in this work for a long time and your other and your other jobs.

What has been most enlightening slash alarming to you about the mental health toll of social media?

What what's the dark side, do you think we don't talk about enough.

Yeah.

So social media, you know, can have many negative impacts for teens.

And it does affect teens differently.

And right now we don't know exactly wha specific features and what ways.

What are the long term effects of social media use on youth?

And I study suicide prevention.

Right.

And we know that social media, specifically cyberbullying, problematic social media use exposure to negative and harmful content like self-harm, content violence.

These are having negative impacts on youth right now, and it is contributing to thoughts of suicide, behaviors of suicide, and even death by suicide in young people at the prime of their lives.

This is something we can do something about, and we're ready to tackle these challenges and help young people.

And when you say that, tackle the challenges.

How does it on a really practical level, does the center go about its work?

What kind of outreach or surveys or community work?

How do you really get i the weeds of this thing?

Yeah.

Thank you.

It's so important to us that the work we do actually reaches the people we aim to serve families, young people themselves, educators, health care practitioners, right?

Policymakers who can then use this information to form state policies.

So when we're looking at this, we're aiming to think about warning labels, right.

Warning labels might be one too that we can actually implement in a statewide policy or in industry and the platforms themselves, to actually disrupt the cycle of problematic social media use in the moment.

Now, in terms of the strategies that we aim to help people right now, we're building a website that will becom a centralized hub of resources that will be dedicated to providing people the tools they need right now to help them navigate these challenging conversations, the complex issues, and understan more about social media itself.

These platforms are readily evolving and changing, and parents and families can't keep up.

We want to provide them the tools so that they can, and to actively manage and help their kids safely use social media and also promote their mental health.

So then if a parent's watching this tonight, I have two little ones at home and I. I really dread the day when they find out what you know, TikTo and Instagram and Facebook are and X and so forth.

Once you guys get up and running, let's say we're a year from now.

What what would you tell parent who is concerned about this issue tha you'll be able to do for them?

Yeah.

So first, we hope to get these resources up in the very near future.

So people, based on the research we've already been doing for nearly a decade, we can get people the information they need.

We want to help people know that while it's not always about screen time, screen time before bed is a major problem.

We know that using social media in the 30 to 60 minutes befor sleep actively disrupts sleep.

Sleep is central to physical and mental health and well-being.

So reducing screen time and social media in those at a minimum 30 minutes before sleep is something people can start doing right now.

Also, starting those conversations early and often, we don't need to wait until their teen to actively tackle this problem.

YouTube is a form of social media, and many young kids are usin YouTube to actively use view TV.

So recognizing that these conversations don't have to wait until it's already a problem, we can do things right now to scaffold media, use plans, and model the behaviors that we want young people to use to see.

And speaking of that, what is the age rang do you think parents should say, okay, I need to start having these kind of discussion because little Johnny is going to see something in school or in the neighborhood and have questions.

What what what what's the time frame there?

Yeah.

So it really depends on the kids age and development.

I can tell you for younger kids such as under three years old, we can start thinking about how we model social media use and phone use and technology use in our families.

What?

And I mean specifically, where do we use these technology?

Is it at the dinner table?

Is it in our bedrooms?

Those are active things.

You can start now with younger kids.

For older kids, it's not a matter of if they see or learn about something happening on social media that's negative.

It's one.

And so becoming a suppor and engaging in conversations, you know, asking them openly and directly about what they're seeing or what they're learning from their friends.

And I think not shying away from those conversations, the more you can be a support for young person as they're navigating this world, the more they're going to turn to you to ask you the questions, to let you know that something is happening.

Because that's what we hear.

So much of kids are afraid to tell their parents.

They're afrai they're going to take it away.

And I understand as a parent, right?

That is our first instinct.

We want to protect them from the harms.

But as you said you know, social media is here.

It's not a matter of if they're going to use it.

It's when.

And so it's not always about just reducing its use or preventing kid from using it to a certain age.

It's building a plan to help them navigate it safel little by little, helping them learn the the tools and tricks of the industry itself.

Let them know that the algorithms are capturing their attention span.

It's taking away their autonomy, and teens love their own autonomy.

You know?

No, listen, you guys are going to do such important work.

And and again, it's an issue and it's made childhood a lot harder than maybe when you and I maybe.

Definitely.

We're growing up.

So please come back and update us as things progress and what you're finding, what you're learning and how you're helping folks.

Thank you so much for having me.

Absolutely.

My pleasure.

Jessica Hamilton, associate professor of psychology at Rutgers and now the directo of the new Jersey Social Media Research Center.

Really important work.

Thank you so much for being here.

And of course, they will be back to keep us posted on how all of this is going.

For now, though, that' going to do it for us tonight.

We will be right back here on Monday.

Thank you for joining NJ PBS news.

Enjoy your weekend.

Jersey.