By Tyler Barth
There’s still time to vote in New Jersey’s first vote-by-mail primary, if you hurry.
Five ballot deposit boxes in Morris County are open until 8 pm on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
The two nearest ones for Greater Morristown voters are at the Morris County Administration & Records Building, at 10 Court St., Morristown (outside the front entrance); and at the Madison Municipal Building, 62 Kings Road (Commuter Parking Lot 3).
Other sites are:
The Mount Olive Municipal Building 204 Flanders/Drakestown Road, Budd Lake (Parking Lot entrance to Municipal Offices); the Rockaway Township Municipal Building, 65 Mount Hope Road, Rockaway (outside the police department); and the Montville Municipal Building, 195 Changebridge Road (in front of the Municipal Building).
If you are dropping off multiple ballots, such as for yourself and a family member, make sure you sign the outermost envelope with your name, to show you are depositing the ballots. To protect against voter fraud, you may only drop off three at a time.
There is a physical polling place– at Morristown town hall, 200 South St.–but only persons with very specific disabilities can vote there in the traditional way. Other qualified voters may fill out a provisional ballot, though this method is discouraged. Such ballots will be discarded if another ballot in your name is submitted.
The primary was pushed from June to July because of the coronavirus pandemic. Vote-by-mail ballots were sent to registered Democrats and Republicans, and to independent voters who expressed a desire to declare an affiliation.
It should take about a week for Morris County to tally these votes, said county Elections Administrator Dale Kramer.
With virtually no contested races, Morris County’s “turnout” could be light. The biggest choices here are for the U.S. Senate.
Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, faces a challenge from Lawrence Hamm. Five Republicans — Eugene T. Anagnos, Patricia Flanagan, Rikin “Rik” Mehta, Natalie Lynn Rivera and Hirsh Singh–are vying for the chance to run in the November general election.
Two Democrats — Cary Amaro of Randolph and Charles Baranski of Cedar Knolls–are competing for the opportunity to seek one Morris County Freeholder seat this fall.
