Stafford Council To Urge Gov. Murphy To Allow In-Person Voting

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — Stafford Township Council unanimously approved a resolution "encouraging the right to vote in person," said Mayor Gregory E. Myhre.

Township officials will send the resolution to Governor Phil Murphy, who has ultimate say in whether in-person voting can take place in New Jersey during the coronavirus pandemic. New Jersey will use a "hybrid" voting model for Nov. 3's election, where all residents will get mailed a ballot and in-person voting will occur on a limited basis, Murphy told CNN on Friday.

But state officials have not yet announced the availability or restrictions of in-person voting for the upcoming election.

New Jersey primarily conducted July 7's election by mail. Myhre said issues with the election included "exorbitant cost, potential fraud, mass confusion and extreme delays."

"The 2020 General election could have the highest voter turnout in history," he said. "The people deserve a fair election with accurate counting of all votes cast in a timely manner."

The Ocean County Board of Freeholders also passed a resolution Aug. 5 to strongly encourage in-person voting.

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The Center for Disease Control has issued guidance for polling locations. The agency recommends providing a variety of voting options, extending days and hours for voting and providing alcohol-based sanitizer.

Advocates for expanding opportunities to vote by mail have pointed to long lines during primary elections amid the pandemic, such as those in Milwaukee. Read more: Wisconsin Election In Photos: Long Lines Amid Coronavirus Fears

President Donald Trump vehemently opposes mail-in voting. President Trump told the Fox Business Network that he's starving the U.S. Postal Service of money to make it harder for them to process the surge of mail-in ballots.

“If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. “That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.”

Murphy has acknowledged issues with the system of voting by mail. But he told CNN the July 7 primaries were "not perfect, but overwhelmingly a success."

He also mentioned an ongoing investigation into voter fraud in Paterson's mail-in election in May but claimed it was a specific and isolated incident.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus, Reopen Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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