New Jersey (NJ) Lottery
The voters of New Jersey overwhelmingly approved in a referendum the creation of a State Lottery in what many believed as the most lopsided result in the State's electoral history. In the referendum on November 4, 1969, the 1,593,239 YES ballots cast for the Lottery represented about 81.5% of all votes cast. The total was more than 1.2 million votes higher than the 362,947 ballots against the Lottery.
The organizational structure of the Lottery, legislation and rules needed to implement it were recommended by a special New Jersey Planning Commission. New Jersey was the third state, after New Hampshire and New York, to authorize and create a state Lottery. The legislature allocated $1.5 million to establish the New Jersey Lottery, but only $686,137 was used and that was repaid to the State from Lottery revenues.
The Lottery was an instant success with the public. In its report, the State Planning Commission said a "reasonable estimate" of gross sales for the first full year of the Lottery would be about $30 million. In fact, the gross sales for the Lottery's first full year, Fiscal 1972, were more than four times higher, totaling over $137 million. The Lottery's phenomenal growth and popularity were reflected in gross sales of some $1.2 billion only 21 years later in Fiscal 1991.
New Jersey (NJ) Lottery Winners
The following are just some the New Jersey Lottery winners:
Mary Cotter won $1 million playing the New Jersey Lottery's Max-A-Million instant game.
Amani Shakur won $66,231 in the August 22, 2006 Jersey Cash 5 drawing.
Jeffrey Bongard of Toms River, Ocean County won $254,356 in the June 27, 2006 Jersey Cash 5 drawing.
Doris P. Miller won the second tier prize of $250,000 in the November 4, 2005 Mega Millions drawing.
Tiffany Jones won $1 million playing the New Jersey Lottery's King Size Cash instant game.
Click here for a comprehensive list of New Jersey Lottery winners.
New Jersey (NJ) Lottery Games
- Mega Millions
- Pick-6 Lotto
- Jersey Cash 5
- Pick 3
- Pick 4