09/24/2020
What do you need to do to properly complete your ballot?
1. Make sure you read and carefully follow the instructions on the vote by mail package you receive, (or if you go to the polling place on Election Day, on the provisional ballot package you will receive from the poll clerks).
2. Don’t write or put any other marks on the ballot itself – other than filling in the oval next to each candidate you wish to vote for. Any other markings may be deemed to make it a “marked ballot” which will be voided and not counted. That means you should not write anything on the ballot, should not sign the ballot and, if you make a mistake, you should not cross it out and initial it. If you make a mistake on your ballot, you can try to get a replacement ballot from the county clerk, or, if that is not possible, you can go to your assigned polling place on Election Day and vote by provisional ballot.
3. After you properly mark your paper ballot, you should place in in the inner envelope, seal the inner envelope, and complete the flap on the inner envelope. On the flap, on the line where it says: “Sign Name Here”, make sure you sign your name as you signed your name when you registered to vote. Do not print your name! You must sign the envelope yourself, even if you need to have someone, (such as a family member or someone else, but in no event a candidate in the election), physically help you complete the ballot process. If someone does assist you, make sure that they sign and print their name and address on the portion of the flap which the ballot assistor is directed to complete. (In this past primary election, here in Middlesex County, this section was directly below where the voter signs and was labeled: “Any Person Providing Assistance Shall Complete the Following:”)
4. Place the sealed inner envelope, which contains your completed ballot with the completed, signed flap still attached, in the outer envelope.
5. If someone, other than yourself, is going to deliver or mail your completed ballot for you, (technically called a “Bearer”), the Bearer must sign the outer envelope and print his or her name and address. A candidate may not be a Bearer, and a Bearer may not handle or return more than three other completed ballots, (other than his or her own). (There is a brand new exception if there are more family members living at the same address, but I wouldn’t take the chance and have the extra returned ballots received but then be voided and not counted.)
How do you timely get your ballot back to the Board of Elections Office, (11 Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick), so it gets received and, if properly completed, counted?
There are a number of different ways you can get your ballot back and counted, but my preference is that you mail it back as soon as possible after you receive it, place it in a drop box, or bring it directly back to the Board of Elections, also as soon as possible after you receive it. Getting the completed ballot back as soon as possible is important so that Republican campaign workers will know your ballot has already been voted, and they can then concentrate their efforts on getting the other Republicans or Republican leaning voters to get back their ballots, rather than spending their time contacting Republicans who have already voted.
1. Mail your properly completed ballot back to the Board of Elections Office as soon after you receive it as possible. (The County Clerk will be sending out the Vote By Mail ballot packages in stages, starting possibly as early as September 21 and must have them all mailed out, pursuant to Governor Murphy’s executive order, by no later than October 5.) (All outer ballot envelopes are already addressed to the Board of Elections and the postage is prepaid, so there is nothing more you need to do, as long as you mail the ballot back as early as possible. However, note that if the ballot is postmarked on or before Election Day, as long as it is received in the mail by November 10, and it was properly completed, it will be counted.)
2. Drop the completed ballot in a drop box anywhere in Middlesex County. (There will be at least 25 drop boxes throughout Middlesex County for this election – at least one in each municipality. There were 11 in the primary, which will all be in the same locations for the general election.) Once the locations are confirmed and the boxes are in place, the locations will be posted on the Board of Elections website. Generally speaking, most of the drop boxes are or will be in the area of the municipal building or the police headquarters. The ballots in the drop boxes will be picked up by regular or seasonal employees of the Board of Elections, (one Democrat and one Republican), and placed by them in separate containers, each marked with the particular drop box location, and returned directly to the Board of Elections. Personally, unless you can mail your vote by mail back early, shortly after you receive it, my preference and recommendation is that you put your ballot in a drop box. All things considered, I believe it is the easiest, safest way to be sure your properly completed ballot is received and counted. There are less transfers than for provisional ballots and less potential for partisan handling before the ballots get to the Board of Elections and less paperwork and less that can go wrong vs. dropping them off at the Board of Elections office.
3. Bring your ballot back directly to the Board of Elections office at 11 Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick. You will need to sign in and show ID and, if you are bringing in ballots for anyone other than yourself, you must meet all the Bearer requirements referenced above, or risk having one or more of the ballots being voided and not counted.
4. Bring the ballot to your assigned polling location and place it directly in the ballot box. (You must be sure that you are going to your assigned polling location to return your ballot, since, even if you go to another polling location in your municipality, if you drop off the ballot at the wrong location, it may not be counted. Also, as stated, be sure, after you check in at the polling location that you place the ballot directly in the ballot box. Do not give it to a poll clerk. If you give the ballot to a Democrat poll clerk who knows you are a Republican, there is always the chance that the ballot might not end up in the ballot box. Put it in yourself.
5. On Election Day, go to your assigned polling location and vote by provisional (paper) ballot. Except where you have spoiled, lost, or made a mistake on the vote by mail ballot sent to you, I personally recommend that you do not choose this option. First, the provisional ballots have to be transferred more times before they get to the Board of Elections office than if you used a drop box or one of the other methods and it also means that the Republican campaign workers will have to leave you on their not returned ballot list and spend time possibly contacting you instead of contacting other Republican and Republican leaning voters.
