There are elections coming up this November 2 for Congress and Essex County offices. But MyVeronaNJ reader Ricky Bongo will be away at college and wanted to know how he could get an absentee ballot. So we’ll give him a shout-out for wanting to participate in democracy, and an answer.
There’s a bit of paperwork and legwork involved, but all in all, getting an absentee ballot is one of the easy things to do in New Jersey. In fact, the whole process is now called “vote by mail” and you don’t even have to be physically absent from New Jersey to do so.
First, you have to get an application to vote by mail, which you can find here. It is not a writeable PDF, so you’ll have to print it to fill it out and sign. Then you’ve got to mail it or deliver it in person to the Essex County Clerk’s office (the address is on the form). The state wants to see a real signature, so you can’t e-mail or fax the form back.
To make sure your ballot gets to you in time, the state says your application must be received by the County Clerk seven days before the election. If you have a last-minute conflict, you can also apply in person to the County Clerk until 3 p.m. the day before the election. If you have other questions, see the Web site of the New Jersey Division of Elections.
That’s it. MyVeronaNJ will be bringing you events on candidates and campaign events all this month. Here’s hoping you all vote.
