Voting in the July 7 Primary

The corona virus has disrupted the July 7 primary election.  The polling location will not be operating as usual and the election will be primarily vote-by-mail (VBM).  Sample ballots will not be mailed to voters as usual. But you can view the sample ballots HERE.

Voters who have registered with either the Democratic or Republican party will receive a VBM ballot in their regular mail. Voters who are not registered with a party can apply for a ballot by filling out and mailing in a special form found HERE.

After completing your VBM ballot, you then mail it to the Morris County clerk (whose office oversees elections).  Instructions are included on the ballot. Leave enough time to ensure that your VBM ballot is postmarked by July 7.

Alternatively, you can place your VBM ballot in one of five drop boxes around Morris County.  The two closest to Harding are Morris County Administration & Records Building, 10 Court Street, Morristown (Outside front entrance) and Madison Municipal Building Hartley Dodge Memorial Building, 50 Kings Road, Madison (Behind Police Headquarters).  The boxes will be installed on or about June 15th. They are all outside and under surveillance 24/7. They resemble a USPS Blue Mailbox, but are Red, White & Blue and display “Morris County – Official Ballot Drop Box”.  The VBM ballots will be picked up on a daily basis and brought to the BOE. All Security measures will be followed when collecting and transporting the VBMs.  VBM Drop Boxes will be closed at 8:00 pm, close of polls, on Tuesday, July 7th .

You will NOT be permitted to hand your ballot in at the polling station. If you forget to mail your ballot and show up at the polls, you also will NOT be permitted to vote on the machine, unless you are disabled. Instead, you will need to complete a “provisional ballot,” which is a paper process supervised by a poll worker. This can take more than 10 minutes per voter. Because of the minimal workforce at the Harding polling station, you may encounter long wait times and potentially a large gathering. For your safety and the safety of the poll workers, we strongly encourage you to vote by mail.

Hopefully, by the November election, the corona virus will be less disruptive. But, if not, the primary vote-by-mail election will be good practice.

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