Oh, just as an update...

Later that day I went in person to the County Clerk's to pick up my absentee ballot. I gave them my driver's license and they diddled around with a computer, then sent me on my merry way.

Got out to the car and noticed someone else's name and address on the ballot, so I had to go back and fill out YET ANOTHER application.

It's now election day and I just drove my ballot down to the polls and handed it in to the Board of Elections. What are the odds that my ballot is now going through the paper shredder?

Quote:


Ok, ok.... they can go back to screwing off on Sundays.

Quote:

New Jersey Division of Elections:

http://www.njelections.org/vote_id_req.html

Quote:

Every day? Now that's asking TOO much.

New Jersey may be encouraging people to vote by mail, but the Jersey City Post Office is certainly doing a good job discouraging it.

Like I said in my earlier reply, I applied for an absentee ballot by mail (sent out with from where I work in Morris County) several weeks ago, but still had not received my actual ballot. Knowing that I would be out of state on election day, I would not be able to vote in person at my regular polling place.

I realized today that I should stop being patient, so I called up the Board of Elections office to see what the story was. They said I definitely should have received something by now. I was then shuffled between the County Clerk and the Superintendent of Elections a couple times before they deemed it all right to send me another absentee ballot.

While it's not very convenient for me to take care of this in person (not to mention it completely goes against the whole principle of ABSENTEE VOTING), I am very appreciative that the Board of Elections is open until 7 pm. I certainly will not be trusting the Jersey City Post Office with my voting privileges, much like I don't trust them with delivering my packages or certified letters from my landlord informing me of a rent increase, processing my passport, getting Netflix DVDs to me in one piece, or the simple task of making sure the name on envelopes goes in the little black box with the same name on top of it every day.

Yeah, I'll be doing this one myself.

I wonder if there is any way of exploiting those mail votes, like helping our seniors to vote with stand-over encouragement ?

Sorry to intervene regarding regular voting, but if you are registered, can you just show at your polling station with an ID such as passport/driving license ?

I don't have any voter registration proof other than the confirmation from NJ over the phone that I am registered.

No mail received for the elections.
Advise welcome, don't want to miss this one...

You can go to the County Clerk's office and fill out an application there and get an absentee ballot on the spot.

Then you can fill your ballot out and walk it over to the Board of Elections' office at 595 Newark Ave. It's basically right next door to the Court House where the County Clerk's office is located.

I did this for the primaries because I was going to be out of town. It was pretty painless and it took maybe half an hour. And...I know that my ballot was actually received.

It would be awesome if the absentee ballot actually shows up before election day since I really won't be in town. I submitted my application over three weeks ago and still haven't received anything.

What's been the turnover time for people voting this way?

I suggest walking the application to 583 Newark Ave instead of using the post office.

Voters can print out the absentee ballot application from the state Division of Elections Web site. In Hudson County, it would be returned to County Clerk Barbara Netchert, 583 Newark Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07306.

http://www.state.nj.us/state/election ... ee_ballot-eng-7.18.07.pdf

I mailed mine in yesterday :)

can I go and pick up an absentee ballot. there is little more than a wek before elections ans usps is not too reliable.

Oh, Ianmac. How freakin' catty of you.

Quote:

Excellent reporting. This is not the first time voters don't have to give a reason. It is the first Presidential election since the law changed, however, that is not what this sentence says.

From NJ.com:

Voting by mail -- aka absentee ballots -- becoming popular in New Jersey

Posted by mschmidt October 24, 2008 15:50PM

New Jersey is encouraging people to vote by mail this election.

It's still illegal to vote often, but New Jersey is doing all it can to make it easier to vote early.

This year's presidential election marks the first time voters don't have to give a reason -- such as illness or travel -- when they apply for an absentee ballot.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine went to Newark's Penn Station today to promote absentee voting to the state's residents who work long days in Manhattan and are not sure they'll be able to get to the polls.

"I hope people will examine the vote-by-mail option," he said.

More than 200,000 of the state's 5.3 million registered voters have already applied for absentee ballots. Corzine says he hopes that number grows by another 100,000, or more.

That would likely be a record, though the state did not track the number of absentee votes cast before 2006.

New Jersey passed a law with no-excuses absentee voting in 2005, but it's been a little-known change until now, mostly because no election since then has received the extraordinary attention that this year's presidential race has.

Some polling places are expecting uncommonly long lines for voting on Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, people were voting early at the Deptford Mall, where Gloucester County election officials have made it particularly easy to cast ballots.

The county has a storefront where people can apply for passports and get information about services like the animal shelter and community college.

This month, it's turned into voter central.

Voters can apply for, fill out and submit paper absentee ballots -- all just steps from a Boscov's department store.

County election officials were impressed when it was drawing 50 or 60 voters a day soon after it opened on Oct. 6. Now, it's getting three times as many, and more are expected as the election draws closer.

Patti Stahl, who lives in Westville, cast her ballot today because she'll be out of town on Nov. 4.

"I like the computerized booths better," she said.

But the convenience of voting at the mall cannot be beat.

She said she was going to buy a gift for a new baby in her extended family and stop by a cell phone store while she was there.

The Division of Elections' Giles said that while many counties have satellite offices where people can apply for absentee ballots, only a few allow people to vote and return them on the spot.

Generally, voters apply for the ballots through county clerks, but submit them to county boards of elections.

Voters can apply for absentee ballots through the mail until Tuesday and in person until 3 p.m. Nov. 3. To be counted, the ballots must be in the appropriate county election offices by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Under New Jersey law, election officials can begin counting absentee ballots once the polls open at 6 a.m. All ballots must be counted.

Voters can print out the absentee ballot application from the state Division of Elections Web site. In Hudson County, it would be returned to County Clerk Barbara Netchert, 583 Newark Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07306.

The clerk's office then mails a ballot to the absentee voter.

Voters who apply for absentee ballots will not be allowed to vote at the polls, the application form notes.

Link

Hudson County Clerk