Polling Issues, Late Openings Reported In NJ On Election Day

NEW JERSEY - Although over 200,000 New Jerseyans already voted in the general election via mail and drop boxes earlier this year due to the ongoing pandemic, scores of voters are still showing up to the polls on Tuesday, with some reporting instances of poll machine technical troubles and delayed openings to some locations.

In the northern part of the state, Jersey City residents saw several polling machines down and a few locations opening late.

The Modera Lofts polling site at 350 Warren St. opened nearly three hours late, after 9 a.m., even though all polling locations across the country are mandated to open at 6 a.m. Ward E Councilman and candidate James Solomon tweeted, "The polling site at Modera Lofts has finally opened. This delay was unacceptable, and we will get to the bottom of why it happened after the election."

The Hudson County View also reported two other polling locations that opened late, including one in Greenville.

Voting machines have been an issue on election morning as well, with reports of machines going down at New Jersey City University and the firehouse at 468 Ocean Ave. The Rebovich Institute for NJ Politics tweeted that the issues could be due to election changes in NJ counties this year. Read more: Jersey City Polling Location Opens Late, Machines Glitching

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In Central Jersey, Metuchen Borough officials said they were aware of polling problems that were caused due to new state voting software. Many residents who went in early were unable to cast their ballots, officials said.

"We are aware of a number of polling issues as a result of the new state voting software that have occurred throughout the State, County, and even the Borough in the early hours of this Election Day. In particular, there were some software issues at both the Campbell and Edgar locations resulting in a number of people who showed up but did not vote," borough officials said in a Facebook post.

A few residents commented that the machines were "running smoothly" a little after 8 a.m. Read more: Metuchen Reports 'Polling Issues' Due To New Voting Software

“Technical difficulties at the Knights of Columbus voting site are still being addressed,” the Spotswood Police Department noted via a municipal alert around 7:42 a.m.

On Tuesday afternoon, Middlesex County officials said operational issues were reported to the Board of Elections when polls opened at 6 a.m. Officials said the problems were mainly due to connectivity issues, as election workers struggled to connect electronic polling books to the internet.

"It became apparent that the issues were mainly due to connectivity challenges with the routers which were provided to the County by the State of New Jersey," Officials told Patch in a statement. "These state-issued devices are intended to connect the electronic poll books to the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS)."

To resolve the problem, officials distributed provisional ballots as a backup voting method. Read more: Polling Troubles Due To Router Issues, Says Middlesex County

News12 New Jersey also reported voting issues in Monmouth County’s Keyport. According to reporter Jim Murdoch, a voter said a polling machine chose a candidate when she hovered her hand over it, then she promptly tried to cancel the vote.

Ocean County Clerk Scott A. Colabella said reports of issues at polling places were due to the new electronic poll books that are in use for this election.

Issues reported at one polling place in Lakewood - Coventry Square - were related to construction, an election official told Patch. There are signs directing voters how to get into the polling place and police officers on site as well, the official said. But while much of New Jersey was using new voting machines for the general election, Ocean County is using the same machines it has used for decades.

The voting machines used at Ocean County's polling places Tuesday are the same Sequoia Voting Systems AVC Advantage voting machines that have been used since 1996 in the county. They are fully electronic but do not have a paper backup for each individual vote, NJ Spotlight and Jersey Shore Online reported.

In March, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that requires voting machines that produce a voter-verifiable paper ballot, which allows for an election audit to do a 100 percent match with cast ballots. An official said the new voting machines were "required for use during the Early Voting period only which ended on Sunday and worked fine." Read more: Ocean County Using New Poll Books, Old Voting Machines

Those who have questions about voting or experience issues at the polls today can call the New Jersey Voter Protection Hotline at 1-833-NJ-VOTES (1-833 658-6837).

This is a developing story. Patch will have more information as it comes in. Have you had issues voting this year? Contact this Patch reporter at nicole.rosenthal@patch.com.