No, Your Party Affiliation Is Not On Your NJ Ballot: Clerk

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ - The vote-by-mail decision for the general election made by Gov. Phil Murphy has prompted lawsuits, social media misinformation and it has prompted Morris County Clerk to set the record straight.

Particularly when it comes to party affiliation on the ballot.

"We have been fielding a multitude of questions concerning a notation on primary election envelopes where the voter’s party identification appeared," Grossi said. "This will not happen in the general election because all registered voters are eligible to vote."

Grossi said the primary election in New Jersey is partisan, where only registered Democrats and Republicans are eligible to vote. In the general election, everyone can vote.

"The voters’ party affiliation and address information is automatically generated by the state Voter Registration System and that information is printed on the envelope," she said. "During the Primary Election, the party affiliation is printed on the envelope for no other purpose than to ensure that the correct ballot is inserted into the correct voter’s envelope in preparation for mailing."

The notation as to party affiliation is also required during the primary election for sorting purposes to expedite correct counting of ballots by the accepting election agency, Grossi noted.

Grossi also answered some questions Patch had about other elections misconceptions.

1. Do you “buckshot” blast ballots to everyone?

If you mean by “buckshot” that we send the entire batch out at one time, the answer is no. We send them to the post office on a daily basis. Another word, as we complete a day’s work, that completed work will be sent the following day to the post office.

2. Do you send ballots to dead people and people who moved?

We rely on the accuracy of the State Voter Registration System (“SVRS”) concerning eligible voters. The Board of Elections, which is a separate agency from the Clerk’s Office, is responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and accuracy of registration information contained in the SVRS.

3. What should someone do if they receive a ballot that isn't their own?

They should notify the Board of Elections, who is responsible for updating the SVRS and for curing those deficiencies.

4. How are the votes verified to prevent duplicate voting?

When a vote by mail ballot is sent to a voter, that information is entered into the SVRS. When the voter returns the ballot to the Board of Elections, receipt of the voter’s ballot is entered into the SVRS. At that point, the SVRS will not permit another vote by mail ballot to be issued to that voter. Upon the request of a voter, a duplicate ballot may be issued only if the original ballot has not been received and entered into SVRS. The ballot is marked as a duplicate and is only counted after the Board of Elections verifies that the original ballot was not received.

5. Does every vote get checked and counted individually?

The Board of Election verifies every VBM ballot, not the vote itself, based upon the information that is contained on the outside envelope. Once the certification is detached from the envelope, the secrecy of the vote is maintained. The ballot is then machine counted on Election Day.

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