TOMS RIVER – On July 7 at 8 p.m. there will be a wrap on the 2020 Primary Election, although there will still be counting to do afterward.
A Primary Election is when voters of a particular party choose who will represent them at the polls in November. You must be registered as a member of a party to vote in a Primary.
Voting regulations are different now, and local officials have been pushing to make sure that residents know how to vote easily and safely in the July 7 Primary Election.
If you haven’t mailed in your ballot yet, you can bring it in person to Mancini Hall in the Ocean County Library before 8 p.m. today.
Additionally, there will be five locations where people can drop off their mail-in ballots.
Much of this election will be done by mail, officials said, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, county workers have been sending mail-in ballots for people registered as Republicans and Democrats. They were also sending mail-in ballot applications for unaffiliated voters.
Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than 8 p.m. July 7. The deadline for delivering your ballot in person to the Ocean County Board of Elections or placing it in one of the secure drop boxes is also 8 p.m., July 7.
There will be a limited number of polling places open on Election Day. They will be closing by 8 p.m. However, only provisional paper ballots will be available at those locations. Don’t bring your vote-by-mail ballot to a polling place and do not expect to vote on a voting machine at the polling place, officials have said.
There will be no sample ballots distributed for this election as in the past but they are available to view it on the Ocean County Clerk’s website at oceancountyclerk.com and will also be posted at the limited number of polling places open on Election Day.
