Here's How NJ's Mail-In General Election Will Work: What To Know

NEW JERSEY — Facing mounting pressure to make a decision on how voting in the fall general election will look in the Garden State, Gov. Phil Murphy said last month he would announce his plan no later than the middle of August.

And Friday he did.

Murphy announced that every voter will be mailed a ballot weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The step is being taken as New Jersey continues to deal with the effects of the coronavirus.

In his remarks, Murphy referenced that the changes made for primary election July 7 were largely, if not overwhelmingly, successful. He noted that officials are still reviewing after-action data because they want to "get this right."

Here's how it will work:

• Murphy said every voter will be mailed a ballot that they can fill out and mail back. Because of delays in U.S. Postal Service deliveries, however, election advocates advise people to send them back no later than Oct. 22.
• The ballots will be mailed by Oct. 5. You will receive it from your county clerk.
• You will not receive a sample ballot this year.
• Mail-in ballots must bear a postmark on or before Election Day or they won't be counted. They must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 10.
• Drop boxes will be set up if you'd rather avoid the U.S. Postal Service. You can find drop boxes here, but Murphy plans to expand the number of them.
• Murphy said people can also submit the voter-by-mail ballot at a polling place on Election Day.
• Ballots that lack postmarks because of postal error need to be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 to be counted.
• Schools with in-person instruction will close on Election Day.
• If you do vote in person, you will be given a provisional paper ballot. Murphy told CNN on Friday morning that the state is taking this step "because the folks won't necessarily know at the voting location whether or not you have already mailed a ballot in."

"Every vote should be safe. Every vote be secure. Every vote should be count," Murphy said.

Murphy said he's taking these steps since President Donald Trump has criticized mail-in balloting, and he admitted in a Fox Business interview Thursday that he's withheld funding from the Postal Service because he's afraid it will give too much of an advantage to the Democrats.

The Trump administration has also cut back services and overtime at the Postal Service — which Democrats say is an implicit way to impact mail-in balloting.

Murphy addressed the issue during his news conference on Friday Read more: Gov. Murphy: 585 New Coronavirus Cases In NJ, 10 More Deaths.

Here is Murphy on CNN:

Other leaders throughout the state have been active in preparing for the election. The Assembly State and Local Government Committee on Thursday approved legislation to extend the deadline for mail-in ballots to be received by the county board of elections.

The bill (A-4259), sponsored by Nicholas Chiaravalloti, Nancy Pinkin and Andrew Zwicker, would extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots bearing a postmark on or before Election Day. The deadline would be extended from two days after the closing of polls to six days.

“Safe and fair voting is a pillar of our democracy,” said Zwicker. “Doing everything to ensure voters are fully prepared with the know-how to vote by mail and to ensure this method of voting is fair and transparent is critical to prevent voter suppression and protect the vote.”

During New Jersey’s municipal and school board elections in May, election officials did not count 9.6 percent of ballots sent in, officials said. This measure would prohibit a mail-in ballot being rejected due to missing or insufficient glue when such physical defects are outside of the voter’s control. Ballots deemed invalid must also be retained for two years.

The decision was not met with universal praise, as some legislators and county officials have concerns about security and expense.

Other officials in the Garden State said they would like to see more attention given to in-person voting and in fact, have gone so far as to reject a mail-in voting system.

The Morris County Board of Freeholders passed a resolution unanimously asking the governor and state Legislature to reject a mail-in voting system for the November general election and to consider safe coronavirus-related options for in-person voting instead.

Officials contend that the practice of predominantly using mail-in ballots for all registered voters is fraught with concerns about voter fraud, voter disenfranchisement, postal delivery delays, significant increase in election costs, and reliance on a flawed statewide voter/DMV computer registration data base, plus significant delays in counting ballots.

Sending out 220,000 mail-in ballots for the July primary election resulted in a cost increase for Morris County of $807,000, compared to the 2019 primary election. Mailing an expected 370,000 ballots for the November election would almost double that July cost and offer more election problems, officials said.

“Many of our residents are very upset about main-in balloting, and have expressed their disdain about losing their choice on how to vote,’’ said Freeholder Director Deborah Smith. “The Board of Freeholders feel strongly that voter 'choice' should refer to 'how' to vote, not just 'who' to vote for in a given election cycle."

Rather than mail-in balloting, the freeholders are urging the state to use in-person machine voting, with consideration of multiple days of voting and/or use of outdoor spaces for added safety, in conjunction with mail-in balloting.

“We urge smart alternatives for in-person voting that would provide more opportunities and more days to vote, and more locations to safely vote," said Freeholder John Krickus. “These options easily could accommodate the need for face coverings and social distancing."

The Sussex County Board of Freeholders expressed similar concerns. Freeholder Deputy Director Dawn Fantasia read a resolution into the record, which referred to the exclusive use of mail-in ballots during the July 2020 primary as an “experiment.”

The Sussex Freeholders expressed in their resolution their concerns with the potential for voter fraud, as one of the factors in their decision to oppose the exclusive implementation of mail-in voting. The Sussex Freeholder resolution additionally stated voter choice “should refer to how to vote, not just who to vote for in a given election cycle.”

Last month, Murphy did say there was room for improvement over the primary election.

"We want to make sure that is not just words and that actually happen if that is the route that we end up going," he said.

Murphy also said he is a huge believer in early voting, but for some reason New Jersey has not been able to get a law passed to enable it.

"Just think about that for a second, if you're a senior, if you're vulnerable or you're working 80 hours a week and if you knew it was not just vote-by-mail which is a huge flexibility that takes some steam out of the challenge," he said. "But if you think of having not just one day to vote but had one place that was open per county that was open, say, 30 days before the election."

Murphy said that option would make it so voters weren't reliant on their work schedule or the weather.

"I continue to love it as an option," he said then.

This story contains reporting by Tom Davis.

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