Vote By Mail for Upcoming Primary on July 7th

Dear Harding Friends,

On Friday, May 15th, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order No. 144 mandating that the upcoming July 7th primary shall be conducted primarily as Vote By Mail.

The vote-by-mail ballots will automatically be sent to all “Active” registered Democratic and Republican voters without the need for an application to receive a vote-by-mail ballot. These ballots will include prepaid postage, so a voter need only fill it out and send it back to the County Clerk via mail. Each county will also have a number of drop boxes at which ballots may be deposited. So please watch your mail for these ballots to ensure you are able to vote. It seems that sometimes these ballots can look like junk mail.

Note, these ballots may NOT include a sample ballot, but rather a place that you can access a sample ballot or instructions on how to obtain a sample ballot. This can certainly cause confusion, and we intend to have a sample ballot available for anyone who requires one as soon as they are available. If you require a sample ballot, please email the campaign at yateschipperson@gmail.com to request one or call us at (201) 919-8098.

The County Clerk will also send vote-by-mail applications to “Active” voters who are registered as “Unaffiliated,” and to all “Inactive” registered Democrats, Republicans, and “Unaffiliated” voters. Presumably, these applications will allow you to declare a party and vote in a primary by applying for a mail in ballot. These applications will also include prepaid postage.

Any voter who appears at a polling place on the day of the July primary must vote via a provisional ballot, except that a voter with disabilities may vote on an ADA-accessible voting machine.

Every vote-by-mail ballot that is postmarked on or before July 7, 2020, and that is received by July 14, 2020, at 8:00 p.m. shall be considered valid and shall be counted.

This is certainly uncharted territory, and we will continue to monitor this as it develops. If you have any questions at all on this new process, don't receive your ballot, or need other assistance, please reach out to us at yateschipperson@gmail.com or (201) 919-8098. We will keep you informed as we gain additional information.

Thank you!