Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday signed two bills for criminal justice reform into law.

One of the laws restores voting rights to convicts who are out of prison on parole or probation. The measure will impact roughly 80,000 convicts. He also signed a bill aimed at making it easier for people convicted of lower-level crimes to clear their records.

"I call this a second chance agenda for a reason. We are a state that believes in second chances. We are a state that's stronger when we allow people to move forward and to fully use their God-given talents to their fullest potential. Who hasn't made a mistake for crying out loud?” the governor said after signing the bills at the One-Stop Career Center in Newark.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New Jersey would join 16 other states and the District of Columbia that bar only those convicts who are incarcerated from voting. The bill restoring voting rights goes into effect in March.