Ensure Your Vote Is Counted

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Somerset County Clerk’s Office has been ordered to adjust the way it normally conducts elections. Per Governor Phil Murphy’s Executive Order, the November 3 General Election will be conducted primarily through mail-in ballot voting.

Those who prefer to not use the U.S. Mail, have three options:

1. Drop off ballot in one of the county’s secure drop boxes. A ballot box is located in front of the Montgomery Township Municipal Building and is under 24-hour video surveillance. (Ballots will be collected daily by Somerset County Board of Election employees and stored in a locked, undisclosed facility.)

A secure ballot box was installed outside the Montgomery Township municipal building on September 24. It is available for ballot drop off 24 hours daily until Election Night, November 3.

2. Voters will have the option of walking (or driving) to their designated polling location and dropping off a mail-in ballot at the polls on Election Day until 8 pm. (Each voter must personally bring his or her own ballot to the polling place in order to do this.)

3. Voters may cast a ballot at the polls via a Provisional (or paper) ballot INSTEAD of using the mail-in ballot. Also, there will be voting machine devices available only for those who have documented audio or visual impairment.

The Somerset County Clerk’s Office mailed ballots the week of September 23. All registered voters in Somerset County should receive ballots in the mail by the first week of October.

If any voter has not received a ballot by October 10, they should call the Clerk’s Office at 908.231.7013 to determine if there is an issue.

All voted ballots must be returned and postmarked no later than Tuesday, November 3 at 8 pm, and the County Board of Elections must receive your ballot no later than November 10 in order to count it.

Follow the instructions on the ballot precisely

Somerset County Clerk Steve Peter released online video and photo tutorials to assist voters.

“Vote by Mail has been used in Somerset County for a long time, but many voters who will be using the process this year are unfamiliar with this kind of ballot,” said Peter. “These tutorials are our effort to help voters avoid any technical errors that could delay their vote being counted, or even invalidate their ballot.”

Track Your Ballot

You can track the progress of your ballot. Here’s how: Start by signing into your personal New Jersey Voter Registration System account information at nj.gov/state/elections/vote-track-my-ballot.shtml.

Register to vote by Oct 13

For those not yet registered to vote, an online system is available to assist people to register. Information can be found on the State Division of Elections website. The deadline for registering to vote in this year’s General Election is October 13.

Polling Places

Note: Voting machine devices will be available only for those who have documented audio or visual impairment. Provisional paper ballots will be available if you do not have your mail-in ballot.

Montgomery Township:

– Central Jersey Masonic Center,

345 Kingston-River Rd.

– Otto Kaufman Community

Center, 356 Skillman Road.

– Montgomery Evangelical Free Church, 246 Griggstown Rd.

– Montgomery Municipal Building, 2261 Route 206.

Rocky Hill:

– Rocky Hill Borough Hall, 15 Montgomery Avenue. ■