NEWARK -- Democratic nominee for governor Phil Murphy appeared with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday to disclose massive changes to New Jersey voting laws he would implement if elected.

Among them: automatically registering all licensed New Jersey drivers, allowing online voter registration, offering same-day registration at the polls and expanding voting rolls to include those who would be old enough to vote by the general election as well as ex-offenders.

"The most aggressive thing that we're talking about is automatic registration at the MVC," Murphy said at a campaign event in Newark, noting that New Jersey would become only the seventh state in the nation to do so.

The "motor voter" laws' effect on voting was immediate and substantial in states large and small. In Oregon, which has 4 million residents, added 250,000 new voters were added to its rolls. Voter turnout there jumped from 64 in the 2012 presidential election to 68 percent percent last year.

California added 400,000 new voters in 2016, after it passed own motor voter law, according the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Last year, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed several bills aimed at expanding voting rights, including one in that would have expanded early voting, allowed for online voter registration and automatically registered residents to vote when they obtain a drivers license at the Motor Vehicle Commission.

New Jersey voter turnout in 2016 was the second-lowest ever recorded for a presidential year. New Jersey's last two gubernatorial elections have each set record lows for voter turnout.

On Monday, Murphy accused his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, of conspiring to suppress voting rights under the guise of combating voter fraud through inaction in her role as Secretary of State of New Jersey.

In July, New Jersey turned over all registered voters' names, addresses, phone numbers and other public information in response to a request from a special "voter integrity" commission convened by President Donald Trump.

Trump, who lost the 2016 popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by some 3 million votes, has insisted without evidence that he would have won "if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."

New Jersey did not honor a request by Trump's commission for the last four digits of Social Security numbers because it's not public information under state law.

Guadagno has recused herself from her role as Secretary of State, which oversees the Division of Elections, citing her candidacy for governor. She delegated the duties of her office to Robert Giles, the head of the state's division of elections.

On Monday, Holder insisted that Guadagno's decision to recuse herself was tantamount to a dereliction of duty.

"The notion that the woman who wants to be the next governor of the state would cooperate in some form or fashion would be willing to cooperate with them tells you what kind of governor she is going to be," Holder said.

A Guadagno campaign spokesman, Ricky Diaz, declined to address her recusal, but instead painted Holder as a carpetbagger stumping for a spendthrift.

"Just remember that when the speeches are over, all of these big name out-of-state surrogates who don't pay taxes here will fly back to their home states," Diaz said. " But New Jersey families are the ones who will feel the consequences of Phil Murphy's plans to increase taxes and make New Jersey a sanctuary state if he's elected."

Murphy also assailed Guadagno's recusal, saying that other Republicans had stood up to Trump's commission.

"I'm looking at Mississippi, to pick one of many red (states) who said, 'No, not on this watch,'" Murphy said.

In July, Mississippi's Republican Secretary of State Declailbert Hosemann wrote to Trump's voter commission demand for voter information by saying it should "go jump in the Gulf."

That commission has the potential to upset current and future Democratic victories, Murphy and Holder warned.

Kobach recently claimed he had "proof" out-of-state voters used New Hampshire's same-day registration law to illegally unseat GOP U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, replacing her with Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. He cited 6,540 same-day registrants that used out-of-state driver's licenses to prove their eligibility.

However, New Hampshire law allows anyone living in the state including college students and active-duty military stationed there to use out-of-state driver's licenses to prove their identity, as long as they meet other registration requirements.

"Republicans are afraid of the voters," Holder insisted.

"They'll distance themselves now. They won't cozy up to Trump and Kobach and all those guys, but what do you think is going to happen after that first Tuesday in November?" Holder asked. "Do you think it's going to be fundamentally different than the Christie Administration? The only people that are voting for him at this point at the people who were on the beach with him that day."

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.