Voters will have several options to cast their ballot in the upcoming General Election this fall, including in-person, early voting for the first time.
Legislation signed into law earlier this year by Gov. Phil Murphy created the new early voting option allowing registered voters to cast their ballots in person, using a voting machine, during a nine-day period prior to Election Day.
The Burlington County Election Board has designated seven locations across the county to host early voting sites:
- Chesterfield at the Chesterfield Township Municipal Building, 295 Bordentown-Chesterfield Road.
- Evesham at the Gibson House Community Center, 535 E. Main St., Marlton.
- Medford at the Medford Town Hall, 49 Union St.
- Mount Laurel at Rowan College at Burlington County Student Success Center, 1500 College Circle.
- Pemberton Township at the Pemberton Community Library, 16 Broadway, Browns Mills.
- Tabernacle at the EMS Building, 81 Hawkin Road.
- Willingboro at the Willingboro Public Library, 220 Campbell Dr.
While the early voting sites will be set up in these seven towns, voters residing anywhere in Burlington County will be able to go to any of the seven sites to take advantage of the early voting option, according to information provided by Burlington County. The sites are spread across the county and were selected by the bipartisan Burlington County Election Board.
To comply with the new law, Burlington County purchased state-of-the-art electronic voting machines with a voter-verifiable paper trail, as required under the new law, according to the statement. To comply, the county also acquired new electronic poll books for use at all in-person voting sites.
“All the new equipment is state-of-the-art and highly secure,” Burlington County Board of Elections Chair Joseph Dugan said in the statement. “Voters can rest assured that our county is taking all the necessary steps to prepare for this new additional way to participate in our democracy.”
In-person early voting will begin Oct. 23 and continue through Oct. 31. Early voting polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Registered voters are not required to make appointments, but those who are registered to vote-by-mail must opt out from receiving a Vote-by-Mail ballot to vote in-person at either an early voting location or their regular polling site.
Voters can check their registration and status online at Vote.NJ.Gov under the “Am I Registered?” tab.
Opt-out forms can be found at www.co.burlington.nj.us/DocumentCenter/View/1248/Vote-by-Mail-Removal-Request.
Completed forms should be dropped off or mailed to Honorable Joanne Schwartz, Burlington County Clerk-Elections, 50 Rancocas Road, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 6000, Mount Holly 08060.
For information about opting out of receiving a Vote-by-Mail ballot, call the Burlington County Clerk’s Office at 609-265-5229.
Voters registered to receive a Vote-by-Mail ballot must opt out by Sept. 10 to cast a ballot with a machine at either an early voting or Election Day polling site.
Voters interested in voting by mail continue to have that option and can return their completed paper ballots via the mail, secure drop boxes or in-person to the Burlington County Election Board offices at 50 Rancocas Street, Mount Holly.
Completed vote-by-mail must be postmarked or placed in secure drop box or submitted to the Election Board office on or before 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 2. However, completed Vote-by-Mail ballots will not be accepted at regular polling sites for the November election.
“Voting is secure, easy and more accessible and convenient than ever,” Burlington County Commissioner Linda Hynes, who is the commissioners’ liaison to Elections, said in the statement. “You can vote early or on Election Day or by mail, dropbox or hand delivery. It doesn’t matter how you vote, the most important thing is that you do, and we hope all voters will take the time to exercise that right.”