How To Register, Track Your General Election Vote Online In NJ

NEW JERSEY - As the Garden State inches closer to the upcoming Nov. 3 election an online portal for voter registration is up and running, according to officials.

The site will allow you to:

• Register to vote
• Confirm your voter registration
• Set up an account to track your mail-in ballot

The caveat: you have to do it by Tuesday, Oct. 13.

This year's election cycle has been unique due to the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the changes to the usual process is that this election, like the July primary will be primarily vote-by-mail.

The move sparked a firestorm of criticism about the process, the sanctity of the ballots and even prompted a lawsuit over the decision. You can read more about that here:

• NJ Vote-By-Mail Concerns? Patch Asked A County Clerk For Answers
• What's A NJ Provisional Ballot? How Does It Work? Patch Found Out
• New Provision Could See Vote Counts Leak Before Election Day
• Trump Campaign Sues NJ, Gov. Murphy, Over Mail-In Ballots
• Boycott The Election? Morris County Officials Say Don't Do It

In his remarks about the change, Governor Phil Murphy referenced that the changes made for primary election July 7 were largely, if not overwhelmingly, successful. He noted that officials are still reviewing after-action data because they want to "get this right."

Here's how it will work:

• Murphy said every voter will be mailed a ballot that they can fill out and mail back. Because of delays in U.S. Postal Service deliveries, however, election advocates advise people to send them back no later than Oct. 22.
• The ballots will be mailed by Oct. 5. You will receive it from your county clerk.
• You will not receive a sample ballot this year.
• Mail-in ballots must bear a postmark on or before Election Day or they won't be counted. They must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 10.
• Drop boxes will be set up if you'd rather avoid the U.S. Postal Service. You can find drop boxes here, but Murphy plans to expand the number of them.
• Murphy said people can also submit the voter-by-mail ballot at a polling place on Election Day.
• Ballots that lack postmarks because of postal error need to be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 5 to be counted.
• Schools with in-person instruction will close on Election Day.
• If you do vote in person, you will be given a provisional paper ballot. Murphy told CNN on Friday morning that the state is taking this step "because the folks won't necessarily know at the voting location whether or not you have already mailed a ballot in."
• "Every vote should be safe. Every vote be secure. Every vote should be count," Murphy said.

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