Christie Administration Announces E-Mail and Fax Voting For New Jerseyans Displaced by Sandy

Already Available to Military and Overseas Voters, State Opens Electronic Voting System to Make Voting More Accessible to Citizens Displaced by Hurricane Sandy and First Responders Assisting in Recovery Efforts

Trenton, NJ –The New Jersey Department of State has issued a directive today to county elections officials to permit New Jersey registered voters displaced by Hurricane Sandy to vote electronically. This directive also is intended to assist displaced first responders, whose tireless recovery efforts away from home has made voting a challenge.

“This has been an extraordinary storm that has created unthinkable destruction across our state and we know many people have questions about how and where to cast their vote in Tuesday’s election. To help alleviate pressure on polling places, we encourage voters to either use electronic voting or the extended hours at county offices to cast their vote,” said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. “Despite the widespread damage Hurricane Sandy has caused, New Jersey is committed to working through the enormous obstacles before us to hold an open and transparent election befitting our state and the resiliency of its citizens.”

To vote electronically, displaced voters may submit a mail-in ballot application either by e-mail or fax to their county clerk. Once an application is approved, the clerk will electronically send a ballot to the voter by either fax or e-mail in accordance to the voter’s preference. Voters must return their electronic ballot – by fax or email – no later than November 6, 2012, at 8 p.m.

Voters can download a mail-in ballot application for their county by visiting http://nj.gov/state/elections/voting-information-vote-by-mail.html. A list of county clerk websites, phone numbers and fax numbers are available by visiting http://nj.gov/state/elections/voting-information-local-officials.html.

Separate directives issued today enable displaced voters and first responders to vote by provisional ballot at a polling place in a county other than the voter’s county of registration. The deadline for county clerks to receive mail-in ballots has been extended to November 19, 2012, for any ballot postmarked on or before November 5, 2012. Mail-in ballots post marked later than November 5 will not be accepted.

County elections officials have also been directed to print a sufficient number of provisional and emergency ballots to accommodate voters.

Voters are encouraged to take advantage of extended office hours at county elections offices to cast their vote early and in-person.  Registered voters can obtain and cast their ballot in-person at their county elections office up until 3 pm Tuesday.  County election offices are to remain open, at a minimum, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm throughout the weekend, until November 5.  Voters that have a mail-in ballot and choose to deliver their ballot to the county elections office in person must present their completed ballot to their county elections office no later than the close of polls on Tuesday.

Information is also available by calling 1-877-NJVOTER.

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New Jersey Registered Voters Encouraged To Vote Early At Their County Elections Office

Trenton, NJ – The Christie Administration is encouraging New Jersey voters to take advantage of the extended weekend hours at New Jersey’s county elections offices to cast their vote before Election Day. Registered New Jersey voters can vote in-person by visiting their county clerk’s office no later than 3 pm Monday.  Once they receive a ballot from their clerk’s office, voters will be able to complete their ballot and immediately deliver it to their county board of elections office. In a directive issued yesterday by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, county election offices are to remain open, at a minimum, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm beginning November 2 until November 5, and are to take all reasonable measures to inform voters of the extended hours.

“The extent of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction is impossible to fully describe,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno, who serves as Secretary of State and is responsible for overseeing the Division of Elections. “For many New Jerseyans, the hurricane’s impact may have made Election Day the last thing on their minds, but we want to make voting as easy as possible considering the devastating circumstances. Despite the devastation that surrounds many of our citizens, we are committed to upholding and honoring our nation’s ideals and having an open and transparent election.”

More information is available at elections.nj.gov 

The following is a list of county clerks and board of elections office phone numbers in each county.

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Monmouth Democrats 2ndQ ELEC report not filed. Missing?

Monmouth GOP Team reports $83,000 cash on to hand

The Monmouth Democratic Party’s second quarter campaign finance report, due July 15th, has not been posted on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission’s website as of this afternoon.  Dem Chairman Vin Gopal told MMM that the report was filed with ELEC, along with the report designating him as the new chairman, on July 10th.  Gopal said he would contact ELEC resolve the problem.

At the end of the first quarter, the Monmouth Dems had $6,305.14 cash on hand and was $78,025 in debt.  Over $60K of the debt was owed to then County Chairman Victor Scudiery.  Gopal said that the second quarter report “was pretty much the same, less than $10,000 on hand.”

The Democratic county candidates, Kevin Lavan and Bill Shea for Freeholder and Michael Steinhorn for Clerk, have $64.14 between them as of their post-primary reports.  Lavan and Steinhorn each told ELEC that they were not raising or spending money for the primary race.  Shea raised over $20K, but spent all but $64.14 in the uncontested primary.

The Monmouth GOP appears to be in better shape.  The GOP committee reported $34,790.31 in cash as of June 30th.    In their post-primary reports, Freeholder Director John Curley reported $22,554.81 in cash; Freeholder Serena DiMaso reported $11,401.19 and County Clerk Claire French reported $14,673.21.

Monmouth County  Republican Chairman John O. Bennett III has instructed all county and state elected officials, with the exception of this year’s candidates, to suspend raising money as of August 1 so as to not compete with his fundraising activities for the coming county campaign.  Bennett promised Curley, DiMaso and French that he would raise the funds necessary for the fall campaign.

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Kudos to the Red Bank and Middletown Patches

Unlike the major local news outlet, Patch seems to be taking its duty to inform the public about its most important civic duty….voting….seriously.

Middletown Patch and Red Bank Patch both published Election Guides last week, listing the Municipal, County, Congressional,  U.S. Senate and Presidential candidates who will be on the general election ballot in November.

The Patch editors only made one error and one categorical omission.   They listed the 12th congressional district as including part of Monmouth County which it no longer does.  New Jersey’s congressional district lines were redrawn in January as a result of the 2010 U.S. Census.  Monmouth County is now divided between the 4th congressional district, represented by Congressman Chris Smith-R and the 6th congressional district, represented by Congressman Frank Pallone.  

The 2012-2021 New Jersey Congressional Map can be found here, courtesy of our friends at Save Jersey.

Patch neglected to report that most New Jersey communities will elect their Board of Education members in November, for the first time this year.

MMM salutes Patch for bringing elections to their readers attention and encourages them to continue to do so.  The error and omission were easy mistakes to make, as both changes are recent and information about them not easy to find if you’re not a regular reader of a publication that focuses on politics and government.

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Cullari: Little Blew It Against Pallone

Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini Endorse Cullari in CD-6 Primary

In an interview with Politickernj, the Monmouth County GOP nominee in the primary for the 6th Congressional District, Ernesto Cullari, said that Anna Little,  the 2010 GOP nominee in the 6th district and his primary opponent this year, was focused on herself and not the task at hand, defeating Congressman Frank Pallone, during the 2010 general election,

“What I saw was a candidate unwilling to go after (incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank) Pallone – like the fact that he got his wife a job at the EPA where she works while most people suffer an economic downturn,” Cullari said. “Frank Pallone and a slew of other leaders have been looking out for just themselves. I’ll make that case. I’m not ashamed to make it. 

“What I witnessed in Anna was someone deeply focused on herself instead of the task at hand – namely advancing the small government ideology,” he added. “She missed that opportunity.”

Cullari went on to define himself as the true Tea Party conservative in the primary,

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5.7% turnout for school board elections

Marlboro and Neptune Township held school board elections yesterday.   Of the 45,035 registered voters in the the two townships, 2,618 voted.

By far most of those voters were from Marlboro, where over 2000 people came out.  In Neptune, less than 600 of aproximately 16,000 registered voters came out.

As of February 18, there was 24,926 registered voters in Marlboro and 15,865 in Neptune Township, according to Labels and Lists.  The county website says there were 45, 035 eligible voters in yesterday’s election.  Where those 4,244 new voters came from since February could be the subject of a future column.  In the meantime GOP leaders should take note that someone seems to be having a voter registration drive in Democratic towns.

For now I’d like to speculate about why there was a close to normal 10% turnout in Marlboro while only 3% turned out in Neptune.

One obvious reason could be competition.  In Marlboro, there were 7 candidates for 3 seats on the school board.  In Neptune, the 3 seats were not contested.

A not so obvious reason could be campaign spending.  In Marlboro one of the candidates, Bonniesue Rosenwald, mailed out a professionally produced post card late last week which included an endorsement from Mayor Jon Hornick.  Rosenwald, an incumbent, squeaked out a third place finish by 13 votes to retain her seat.

Some in Marlboro were upset that Rosenwald and Hornick politicised a school board election.  I say politicisation increases participation.

With the recent and perennial hubbub about campaign spending and pay to play, few of the critics of the pay to play/PAC/wheeling system are offering alternatives.  No one is talking about the public service campaign spending provides.

If not for campaign signs littering our roadways and lawns and mail boxes filled with glossy advertisements  few people would know when to interrupt their routines to vote.

With the arguable exception of presidential and gubernatorial elections, the media, local and national, does a horrible job of covering campaigns.  The media looks as electioneering as a revenue source,  not a story to be covered as if democracy depends upon it.

Current campaign finance laws thwart participation by limiting contributions and making the process more complicated.  The process is so complicated that only the most motivated and self interested contribute.  Recently, pundits at The Star Ledger, The Asbury Park Press and even the usually smarter than that InTheLobby criticised the John Wisniewski/Middlesex County PAC practices for violating the spirit of campaign finance laws.   Hogwash.  The complex system that reduces transparency is the spirit of our campaign finance laws.

If our leaders really want to reform the system, rather than give lip service to ethics while voting for a bill with “loopholes” intentionally written in, the would create a simple system with full and immediate disclosure required.

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April 17th

There will be Board of Education elections in Marlboro and Neptune Township tomorrow, April 17th.  The rest of Monmouth County school board elections have been moved to the November general election.

Also, April 17th is the last day to register to vote for the municipal non-partisan elections that will take place in Allenhurst, Deal and Keansburg on May 8th.

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