NJ Voters Who Registered At MVC Face Problems, Report Says

NEW JERSEY — Anyone who registered to vote through the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) may face the prospect of being denied their vote this year due to a glitch in the MVC’s system.

Several county elections officials told NJ Spotlight that voters who registered through the MVC may have their ballots set aside because the signatures created through the MVC’s pin pad don’t match those on the voter’s ballot.

The MVC said it isn't aware of any issues.

“The MVC does not manage the voter rolls, so we cannot confirm or speak to the specifics of matching signatures for voter registration purposes,” MVC Spokesperson William Connolly said. “While the MVC is always working to upgrade and improve systems, we have no specific plans at this time to change our mode of signature collection.”

New Jersey Division of Elections Director Robert Giles wasn’t immediately available for comment to Patch on Friday.

Anytime there is a discrepancy with signatures, a “cure letter” is sent to the voters whose ballots were set aside, so they have the opportunity to respond, the Burlington County Board of Elections told Patch earlier this week.

If voters do not respond to the cure letters, their ballots are rejected. Returned cure forms containing the appropriate identifying information are considered valid signatures and the associated ballots are then accepted. In this case, about half of those cure letters aren’t being returned, according to the NJ Spotlight report.

The state has provided a guide to verifying signatures on mail-in ballots to county election officials. Readers can learn about the process by reading this guide.