Voting In New Jersey
State Contact Information
Office of the Attorney General
44 South Clinton Avenue
PO Box 304
Trenton, NJ 08625-0304
Phone:
609-292-3760
Fax:
609-777-1280
Email:
njelections@lps.state.nj.us
Web:
http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/
Registration Deadlines:
In Person:
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
By Mail:
Postmarked by Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Election Dates:
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 (General)
Questions and Answers:
ID Needed for Voting
Identification is required of first time voters who register by mail and do not provide verification with application…
Click to learn more
Identification is required of first time voters who register by mail and do not provide ID verification with application. If you registered to vote by mail in your county after January 1, 2003, and never voted in a federal election in the county, you are required to provide your county commissioner of registration with identification.
Acceptable Identification includes current and valid photo ID such as:
Driver’s license
Student or job ID
Military or other government ID
Store membership ID
United States passport
Bank statement
Car registration
Government check or document
Non-photo driver’s license
Rent receipt
Sample ballot
Utility bill
Any other official document
Every person registering to vote must provide his or her NJ driver’s license
number or MVC non-driver ID number. If the registrant does not have
either a driver’s license or MVC ID, the last four numbers of his or her social
security number must be provided. These numbers will be verified by the
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. The registrant will be notified if the
numbers cannot be matched. If the registrant does not have a driver’s
license, MVC non-driver ID or social security number, the box in section
If you show identification, you will vote via the voting machine. If you do not show identification, you will vote via provisional ballot and have until the close of business on the second day after the election, to provide identification to the applicable county election office. You will be given a hand-out at the polling place that will tell you which county election office to contact.
Absentee Ballot Process
In New Jersey, you can vote by absentee ballot for any election. You do not need a reason for an absentee ballot. You may apply for an absentee ballot by completing an absentee ballot application and mailing the application to your county clerk by mail up to 7 days prior to the election.
You may also apply in person to the county clerk until 3:00 p.m. the day before the election.
The County Clerk cannot accept faxed copies of an Absentee Ballot Application since an original signature is required.
If you applied for an absentee ballot and were required to show identification, you should have received a request for identification in your absentee ballot material. The identification requirement, however, does not apply to any absentee voter who receives a ballot because of temporary illness or a temporary or permanent disability or any absentee military or overseas civilian voter.
Make sure you properly fill out the Application:
Print your name and address.
You must Sign and Date the Application.
A Power of Attorney signature on behalf of a voter is not acceptable.
If You do not sign the application, it will be rejected.
If You receive assistance in completing the application, the name,
address, and signature of the assistor must be provided.
Authorized Messenger Application Process
Only if you are sick or confined, you can ask someone to be your Authorized
Messenger to go to the County Clerk’s office to get your ballot.
- At the bottom of the application, you must write the name of the
person you choose as your Authorized Messenger.
- No one can be your Authorized Messenger without your permission.
The Authorized Messenger must be a family member (that includes any
adult who is living in the same household as you) or another registered
voter of your county.
- No candidate in the election in which you are requesting an absentee
ballot can be an Authorized Messenger.
- You must sign the bottom of the application under the name of the
Authorized Messenger.
- The Authorized Messenger must show a photo ID to the County
Clerk before getting your ballot.
- Once your Authorized Messenger gets your Absentee Ballot
from the County Clerk, the messenger must bring it to you.
- No one can vote your ballot but you.
- Do not allow anyone to take your unvoted ballot from you.
If you are permanently disabled, you can ask for
an absentee ballot for all the elections in a calendar
Voting your Absentee Ballot
- You have the right to vote your Absentee Ballot in private.
- You have the right to decide for yourself how you will vote.
- No one has the right to tell you how to vote.
- No one can demand you tell them how you voted.
You must complete your ballot without help from someone else except:
- a family member can always help you.
- someone who is not a family member can help you, but only if you
are a sick and incapacitated voter.
- whoever provides you assistance with your ballot, must fill out the
assistor portion of the Absentee Ballot Certificate. The Certificate is
attached to the small envelope you get with the Absentee Ballot.
- a candidate can never help you with your Absentee Ballot.
year on one application.
Any voter who wishes to vote only by absentee
ballot for a general election can request to receive
automatically an application for general elections
No one can electioneer or campaign while
assisting you with your absentee ballot.
It is against the Law.
Make Sure Your Absentee Ballot will be Counted
- Sign your name on the certificate or your ballot will not be counted.
- If someone assists you in completing your ballot, the assistor must sign
the certificate. If this is not done, your ballot will not be counted.
- If you are voting for the first time in a primary election, make sure you
write in your party on the absentee ballot certificate.
- Don’t vote for more candidates than allowed on the ballot. This is called
an overvote. If you overvote, the votes for that office will not be counted.
- Put your voted ballot inside the small envelope and seal it.
- Do not detach the certificate. Leave it on the small envelope.
- Put the small envelope inside the larger envelope that is addressed to
the Board of Election and seal it.
- If both envelopes are NOT sealed, the ballot will not be counted.
- Your ballot must get to the Board office no later than the close of the
polls on election day. That is usually 8 p.m. on election night
(9 p.m. for school elections).
- If the ballot does not get to the Board office by that time,
it will not be counted.
Delivery of an Absentee Ballot
- You may ask someone to deliver your ballot to the Board of Election Office
or to drop it in a mailbox if you can not get it to the Board Office yourself.
This person is called the bearer of your ballot.
- You choose who the bearer of your ballot will be,
BUT – no candidate in the election in which you are voting
by absentee ballot can be a bearer.
- No one can be the bearer of your ballot without your approval.
- The bearer can not take the ballot from you unless he or she first fills out,
in front of you, the “bearer portion” on the envelope addressed to the
Board of Election. If this is not done, the ballot will not be counted.
If you have any questions, you can call 1-877-NJ-VOTER (1-877-658-6837).
Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.
Early Voting
Early voting is available through absentee ballots. Any voter can vote by absentee ballot for any election. You do not need a reason for an absentee ballot.…
Click to learn more
Early voting is available through absentee ballots. In New Jersey, you can vote by absentee ballot for any election. You do not need a reason for an absentee ballot. You may apply for an absentee ballot by completing an absentee ballot application and mailing the application to your county clerk by mail up to 7 days prior to the election.
You may also apply in person to the county clerk until 3:00 p.m. the day before the election. The county clerk cannot accept faxed copies of an absentee ballot application because an original signature is required.
If you applied for an absentee ballot and were required to show identification, you should have received a request for identification in your absentee ballot material. The identification requirement, however, does not apply to any absentee voter who receives a ballot because of temporary illness or a temporary or permanent disability or any absentee military or overseas civilian voter.
If you have any questions, you can call 1-877-NJ-VOTER (1-877-658-6837).
Time Off To Vote
Time off to vote is subject to the employer. New Jersey state law does not require employers to grant time off to vote for employees.
