New Jersey’s Voting Requirements

            from: New Jersey Voter Rights Handbook 

You can vote if you are:

·         a U.S. citizen.

·         at least 18 years of age by election day.

·         a New Jersey resident at least 30 days before the election.

·         not in jail, on probation or parole because of a felony conviction.

·         registered to vote at least 29 days before the election. 

Completing your Voter Registration Application:

• Complete the two check-off boxes at the top of the form.
• Print your full name: first and last, and a middle initial if you have one.
• Enter your birth date.
• Print clearly so the form can be read.  If it can’t be read, it will be rejected.
• Sign the application.
• If assistance in completing the form is given, the name and address of the assistor must be put on the form. 

Submitting your Voter Registration Application:

• Your Voter Registration Application must go to your County Commissioner of Registration.  It is postage paid so it does not cost anything to mail it.
• You can also drop it off at the Commissioner’s office or your Municipal Clerk’s Office.
• It must be received by a voter registration agency by the 29^th day before the election.

Identification (ID) Requirements 

If you register to vote by mail for the first time in your county, you will have to provide some form of identification. 

If you register by mail, you will be asked by your County Commissioner of Registration to provide your driver’s license number or the last four numbers of your social security number.  Don’t worry, these numbers are kept confidential and are not given to anyone. 

If you do not have a driver’s license number or a social security number, you can give a copy of a photo ID or a copy of a document that has your name and address on it.  Here are some examples: 

            A current and valid photo ID, such as:           

·         NJ driver’s license

·         US passport

·         military or other government ID

·         student or job ID

·         store membership ID, like a Sam’s Club or Costco card or any document with your name and address: 

·         bank statement

·         car registration

·         government check or document

·         rent receipt

·         utility bill

·         any other official document 

How Will I Know Where to Vote? 

As a registered voter, you will be sent a sample ballot before every election.  The sample ballot will tell you where your polling place is. 

If you don’t get a sample ballot a few days before an election, call your County Clerk’s office.  (Cumberland County Court House/Clerk’s Office: 856-453-8000)  Visit www.NJElections.org to find your County Clerk’s Office. 

You can also get polling place information from your Municipal Clerk or Board of Election office. 

Voting Rights in the Polling Place 

You can vote in the voting machine if: 

• your complete voter registration information is in the poll book.
• you currently live in the election district or you moved to another county after the close of registration.  Thereafter, you must register in your new county. 

Assistance in the Voting Machine 

You can get assistance in the voting machine ONLY if you are blind, physically disabled or illiterate. 

You get to choose who will assist you.  If you come alone to the polling place, two board workers will be glad to assist you.  Remember, the choice is yours. 

When Might I be Asked for Identification (ID) at the Polling Place? 

You can only be asked to provide ID at the polling place if: 

• you are a first time registrant by mail in your county after January 1, 2003 and you did not provide ID before going to vote in the polling place or
• you are being properly challenged.     

      NOTE: Only the board workers can ask you for ID. 

If the Voting Machine is not working, DO NOT LEAVE the polling place.  A Board Worker will give you a Paper Emergency Ballot. 

Voting by Paper Provisional Ballot 

You can not vote in the voting machine and must vote by Paper Provisional Ballot if: 

• your voter registration information is not complete in the poll book.  For example, if your signature is missing.
• you moved from your registered address to another one in the same county and you did not tell the County Commissioner of Registration in time before the election.
• you are a first-time registrant by mail in your county after January 1, 2003 and you did not provide ID to the County Commissioner of Registration before the election or you do not show it to the board workers in the polling place on the day of the election. 

Completing the Provisional Ballot: 

• Complete the provisional ballot affirmation statement that is on the provisional ballot envelope.
• Sign the statement.  If you don’t, the ballot will not be counted.
• Place the voted ballot into the envelope and seal it.
• Do not detach the affirmation statement.  Keep it on the envelope.
• After you give your provisional ballot to a board worker, you must be given a piece of paper that will tell you how you can find out if your ballot was counted by the Board of Election. 

Challengers in the Polling Place – Do’s and Don’ts: 

Challengers Can: 

• only challenge a voter’s right to vote if the challenger believes the voter is not qualified to vote (example: the challenger has information that the voter has moved away and should not be voting at that polling place.)

      Note: The challenger must sign an affidavit when challenging a voter. 

Challengers Can Not: 

• challenge a voter because of the voter’s race, ethnic origin, expected manner of voting, or because the voter lives in a particular ward, housing complex, or section of a town.
• sit with the board members.
• go to the voting machine during the voting hours.
• touch any election materials.
• challenge a voter directly.
• harass or intimidate any voter or cause a disturbance in the polling place.
• wear any campaign badges, shirts or insignia whatsoever. 

Electioneering on Election Day at the Polls is a Prohibited Activity 

There can be no electioneering of any kind within the area 100 feet from the outside entrance to the polling place up to and including the polling room.  There can be no campaign signs or other campaign material in this area. 

• No voter can be solicited by anyone within this area.
• There can be no loitering in this area.
• Exit polling by the media, however, is allowed. 

Absentee Voting in New Jersey 

It is now the law that any voter can vote by absentee ballot for any election. 

Absentee Ballot Application Process 

To get an absentee ballot, you must fill out an application.  You can get an absentee ballot application from the Municipal Clerk’s Office, the County Clerk’s Office, or visit www.NJElections.org to download an application. 

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. 

The Absentee Ballot Application must go to your County Clerk’s Office.  If you can mail it to your County Clerk it needs to get there by at leas 7 days before the election.  After that day, you must walk the application into the County Clerk’s Office.  Ballots can be issued by the Clerk up until 3:00 p.m. of the day before the election. 

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.
• 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. 

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 or 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. 

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.