Looking For A Mail-In Ballot Drop Box? Here's Ocean County Sites

TOMS RIVER, NJ — New Jersey election officials have released a list of locations where secure dropboxes will be located in Ocean County for voters to return their completed mail-in ballots for the 2020 general election.

There will be 17 dropboxes spread out across the county; some already are available for depositing completed ballots, which are collected by the Ocean County Board of Elections daily.

The boxes are monitored by cameras around the clock seven days a week. After you return your ballot, you can track it online through the state Division of Elections.

Five drop boxes were put in place for the July primaries. Those boxes are available now for ballots to be dropped off:

• Northern Ocean County Resource Center, 225 4th S., Lakewood
• Ocean County Southern Service Center, 179 South Main St., Manahawkin
• Ocean County Parking Garage, Madison Avenue, Toms River
• Brick Township Municipal Building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road, Brick;
• Manchester Branch of the Ocean County Library, 21 Colonial Dr., Manchester

Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella said mail-in ballots have been sent to active registered voters in all but seven towns — Berkeley, Brick, Jackson, Lakewood, Manchester, South Toms River and Toms River — and voters in the remaining towns should receive their ballots by Oct. 5.

If you have not registered to vote, you have until Oct. 13 to do so; you can register in person at the Ocean County Clerk's office, 118 Washington St. (at the Ocean County Courthouse).

The following sites will have secure dropboxes available, according to the state Division of Elections:

• Barnegat: Ocean County Library branch, 112 Burr St., Barnegat
• Beachwood: Ocean County Library branch, 126 Beachwood Blvd., Beachwood
• Berkeley: Ocean County Library branch, 30 Station Road, Bayville
• Jackson: Ocean County Library branch, 2 Jackson Dr., Jackson
• Lacey: Ocean County Library branch, 10 East Lacey Road, Lacey
• Lavallette: Ocean County Library Upper Shores branch, 112 Jersey City Ave., Lavallette
• Little Egg Harbor: Ocean County Library branch, 290 Mathistown Road, Little Egg Harbor
• Manchester (Whiting section): Ocean County Library branch, 400 Lacey Road, Manchester (library is next to Stop & Shop)
• Point Pleasant Borough: Ocean County Library branch, 834 Beaver Dam Road, Point Pleasant
• Surf City: Ocean County Library Long Beach Island branch, 217 South Central Ave., Surf City
• Toms River: Ocean County Library branch, 101 Washington St., Toms River (Drop box will be outside of Mancini Room)
• Toms River: Ocean County PIC Building, 1959 Route 9, Toms River

The following are your options for voting in the 2020 general election:

Fill out the postage-paid Vote-by-Mail ballot you receive and return it:

• by mail to the Board of Elections via the U.S. Postal Service
• by delivering it in person to Board of Elections
• by delivering it in person at your polling place on Election Day
• by dropping your ballot in one of the secure ballot drop boxes listed above.

A limited number of polling places will be available on Election Day, and only disabled voters may cast a ballot on a voting machine.

Voters who go to their polling place on Election Day may cast their ballot by voting a paper provisional ballot, as long as they did not vote on a mail-in ballot and return it.

"The provisional ballots are all counted by the Board of Elections after they determine that a vote- by-mail ballot was not received and counted for that voter and that the voter is registered," Colabella said.

Read more about mail-in voting in New Jersey:

• NJ Vote-By-Mail Concerns? Patch Asked A County Clerk For Answers
• Mail-In Ballots Are Arriving, NJ: Here Is Video On How To Use One
• What's A NJ Provisional Ballot? How Does It Work? Patch Found Out
• Do Mail-In Ballots Force NJ Voters To Lie? Here's The Answer
• How Are Election Signatures Verified In NJ? Patch Found Out
• How To Register, Track Your General Election Vote Online In NJ
• Key 2020 Voting Deadlines In New Jersey

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