Republicans say they were trying to alert voters that they cannot vote using a machine on Nov. 3 as they traditionally do, when they ran an advertisement in Sunday’s Press of Atlantic City on Page A3 that drew criticism for inaccuracies.
The ad mistakenly said, “There is no in-person voting.” It encouraged people to return their mail-in ballots as soon as possible.
In fact, anyone who wants to vote in person can do so, using a paper provisional ballot.
Those who sign affidavits stating they are unable to fill out a paper ballot due to a disability may vote by machine at their polling place, which may be different from the past as only about half of the usual polling places are open.
In explaining why they ran the ad, the two Republican Atlantic County freeholder candidates featured in the ad said it was to clarify that voting this year is far from normal.
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“People think they are going to go to their normal place and vote by machine, and that ain’t happening. That’s the problem,” said At-Large Freeholder John Risley, of Egg Harbor Township, who is running for re-election.
He and running mate James Toto, a councilman from Somers Point, put out the advertisement.
Atlantic County Democratic Committee Chair Michael Suleiman, however, said that’s no excuse for misinformation.
“It’s not right no matter if a Democrat or Republican did it,” Suleiman said. “Telling people there is no in-person voting is unequivocally not true. It confuses voters and has got to be rectified.”
Only about half of the usual polling places are open, so voters need to know their polling place may be different than usual. To check your polling place visit nj.gov/state/elections/vote-polling-location.shtml and click on your county. You must know the ward or district in which you vote. They are printed at the top of your vote-by-mail ballot.
Voters may drop off their completed vote-by-mail ballots at their polling places on Election Day, but they must go to their designated polling location and can only drop off their own ballot.
“I get it,” Toto said of the criticism. “They are saying you can go vote in person, but it’s going to be a provisional ballot.”
Voters may also return completed ballots via U.S. Mail, drop it in a secure drop box, or deliver it to the Board of Elections in person.
Ballots can be tracked by creating an account at the 2020 New Jersey Election Portal at nj.gov/state/elections/vote-track-my-ballot.shtml.
To set up the account, first verify your registration at voter.svrs.nj.gov/ registration-check, and copy down your voter identification number, then use that number to set up an account. That is your new voter ID number issued during a recent upgrade to the system. If you registered years ago your voter ID card has a different number on it.
