Hunterdon County elections officials: Avoid vote delays on election day – vote by mail

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NJ – Hunterdon County Freeholder John E. Lanza joined County Clerk Mary Melfi and Election Board Administrator Beth Thompson in encouraging County voters to use their vote by mail ballots, in order to avoid voting delays on election day.

Freeholder Lanza, the Board’s liaison for the County Clerk’s Office and the Board of Elections, said, “As much as many of us would prefer to have had a choice to machine vote on election day, that opportunity has been taken from us, so my best advice is vote by mail to avoid confusion on election day and a delay in having your ballot counted.”

“A voter’s best bet now is to vote by mail and drop the ballot in one of the twelve secure ballot boxes located around the county. Ballots can be dropped off until November 3rd at 8 pm,” Lanza said.

Those voters who may have misplaced their vote by mail ballot can receive a replacement by calling the County Clerk’s office at 908 788-1214. Verification is made to ensure you haven’t already submitted a vote.

The last day the Clerk may mail a ballot is October 23rd. Clerk Melfi will be adding hours beginning Saturday October 24th for those who want to walk in and pick up a replacement ballot.

Ballots can also be dropped off at the County Board of Elections Office, which now has extended hours; Monday-Thursday 8:30am-9pm, Friday & Saturday 8:30am-4:30pm, and Sunday 9am-4pm. The Board of Elections office will also be open on November 3rd, Election Day, from 6 am to 8 pm.

Lanza said there will be several challenges to voting on election day:

• Those who go to the polls election day will find, by state law, there is only one polling place in each town. That could result in long lines for voting.
• Additionally, voters who show up at the polls will not be permitted to machine vote, but instead will be given a provisional ballot similar to the vote by mail ballot. Those ballots will require filling in the ovals by hand for each election choice. Imagine the delay involved with that, as only a few people at a time will be able to do so.
• Finally, those provisional ballots are not allowed by law to be opened and counted until after November 10th. So, your election day vote may be counted too late to matter.

“We all know this is an important election. The people of the county can have total confidence in the County’s elections process team and how they have overcome challenges to make vote by mail work All voters can be assured that in Hunterdon County your vote is safe, secure and will be accurately counted. None of us like these rules, but they are the rules this year,” Lanza said.

Voters can check to see if your vote by mail ballot has been received at the Board of Elections by going to Track my Ballot- vote.nj.gov and there is also a link on the county elections webpage.

County Clerk Melfi and the Board of Elections staff have created a video for a likely scenario for those trying to vote on November 3 and to view the video, click here.

List of location of secure Hunterdon County drop boxes for daily pick up:

• GLEN GARDNER BOROUGH:
  Glen Gardner Municipal Building
  83 Main St., Glen Gardner NJ 08826
• HOLLAND TOWNSHIP:
  Holland Township Municipal Building
  61 Church Rd, Milford NJ 08848
• LAMBERTVILLE CITY:
  Phillip J Pittore Justice Center
  25 S Union St., Lambertville NJ 08530
• RARITAN TOWNSHIP:
  Hunterdon County Public Library
  314 Rt 12 Bldg. 3, Flemington NJ 08822
• READINGTON TOWNSHIP:
  Readington Township Municipal Building
  509 Rt 523, Whitehouse Sta NJ 08889
• CLINTON TOWN:
  North Branch County Library
  65 Halstead St., Clinton
• CLINTON TOWNSHIP
  Public Safety Building
  1370 RT. 31 No. Annandale, NJ 08801
• FLEMINGTON BOROUGH:
  Hunterdon County Clerk – Hall of Records
  71 Main St., Flemington NJ 08822
• FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP:
  Franklin Township Municipal Building
  202 Sidney Road, Pittstown NJ 08867
• LEBANON TOWNSHIP:
  Lebanon Township Municipal Building,
  530 West Hill Road, Glen Gardner, NJ 08826
• TEWKSBURY TOWNSHIP:
  Tewksbury Township Municipal Building
  169 Old Turnpike Rd, Califon NJ 07830
• UNION TOWNSHIP:
  Union Township Municipal Building
  140 Perryville Rd., Hampton, NJ 08827