Vote Early At These 10 Monmouth County Poll Sites Oct. 23-31

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — Last November, Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon criticized Gov. Murphy's decision to make the 2020 election entirely vote by mail, saying it caused a massive strain on infrastructure and significantly delayed how long it took to count the votes.

Now today, Clerk Hanlon informs Monmouth County residents they can actually vote by machine early this year, starting Oct. 23.

New Jersey voters will now have three options for voting: These options are voting by mail, voting in person on Election Day at assigned polling locations, or the new early in-person voting option at designated polling locations.

Earlier this year, a new state law was passed mandating the option of in-person early voting in New Jersey. This new option allows registered voters to cast their ballots in person, using a voting machine, during a nine-day period prior to Election Day at designated early voting polling locations.

The option to vote early in-person for the 2021 General Election will be available at 10 designated early voting polling locations in Monmouth County from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The 10 designated early voting polling locations in Monmouth County are:

• Colts Neck Township – Colts Neck Library, 1 Winthrop Drive
• Hazlet Township – James J. Cullen Center, 1776 Union Avenue
• Howell Township – Adelphia Fire Company Station No. 2, 993 State Route 33, Freehold
• Little Silver Borough – The Women’s Club of Little Silver, 111 Church Street
• Long Branch City – Arts and Cultural Center, 577 Broadway
• Manalapan Township – Monmouth County Library Headquarters, 125 Symmes Drive
• Middletown Township – Croydon Hall, 900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo
• Neptune Township – Neptune Senior Center, 1607 Corlies Avenue
• Spring Lake Heights Borough – Cornelius V. Kelly Community Center, 902 Ocean Road
• Upper Freehold Township – Upper Freehold Township Municipal Building, 314 Route 539, Cream Ridge

“With the passage of this new State law, voters will have more ways and more days to vote in person than ever before in New Jersey,” said Clerk Hanlon. “The new early in-person voting option will provide evening and weekend hours, resulting in more convenience for voters.”

“Voters who are registered in Monmouth County can vote early in-person at any of the County’s 10 designated early voting polling locations regardless of which municipality they reside in,” said Clerk Hanlon. “This gives voters the ability to vote anywhere in the county during the nine day early voting period.”

It is important to note that the 10 designated early voting polling locations differ from the assigned polling locations for in-person voting on Election Day and they will not be open on Nov. 2 Election Day. Voters who wish to vote in-person on Nov. 2 Election Day should report to their regular assigned polling location, which can be found on their sample ballots or MonmouthCountyVotes.com.

In order to implement this new early voting option, all 21 counties in New Jersey were required to purchase new voting technology so voters could access their specific ballot at any of the early in-person voting polling locations in the county, said Hanlon.

Results were delayed by weeks in Monmouth County in the November 2020 presidential election. More than 40 percent of Monmouth County's votes were still not counted by Nov. 4, as mail was still being sent in and had to be processed. Also, vote-by-mail ballots were sent to dead people in New Jersey, or multiple ballots were sent to one voter or one home. Read on Yahoo News: As Of Nov. 4, More Than 40 Percent Of Monmouth County's Votes Still Not Counted

Hanlon, a Republican, said she and a bipartisan coalition of county clerks told Murphy they strongly disagreed with his vote-by-mail mandate during the COVID pandemic.

"I'm still very upset that the governor did that, and I think most voters were upset by the mandate," Hanlon told Patch in November. "Because we're not going to have results for weeks. The change caused a massive strain on the infrastructure and it was a strain on resources. If we were on machines it would have been done already."