The Center for Governmental Studies has released a study of New Jersey's Clean Elections pilot program and it is overwhelmingly positive. While offering a few recommendations for improvement (chief among them expanding the system to primaries and making a better effort on behalf of third parties) the Center thinks the system should be expanded and "could be a state-wide success.”

Some of the other recommendations include addressing issues of candidates facing independent expenditures -- both making it easier for candidates to fight back, and making the funding for those expenditures more transparent. Overall though, the Center is behind making Clean Elections available for more offices in the state which is good news on the heels of several weeks of argument over whether the program will be renewed for another year.

You can read the full report, in pdf, here.