For the first time, voters in New Jersey had the chance to take part in Super Tuesday.

In past years, the main presidential candidates were basically already chosen by June, which made voters in the Garden State feel like they didn?t matter. However, last year, lawmakers voted to move the primary from June to Super Tuesday in an effort to make the vote more relevant nationwide.

This year there was a big push by candidates to gain votes from young people. Some candidates had pages created on popular social networking Web sites, including Facebook and MySpace. Some young voters say they wanted to take part in the primary because of the war.

?I was a member of the United States Army for three years and I have friends in Iraq, so that?s something that?s very near and dear to me,? Rutgers senior Farrah Hamlett says.

Meanwhile, the state Public Advocate?s Office has been getting more complaint calls from voters on Super Tuesday than it did during general elections last November. Many complaints are from voters frustrated they cannot switch parties for the primaries, or from independent voters being turned away.

The polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m.

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AP wires contributed to this report.