Voters' Mailed-In Ballots Returned To Them In Ocean County

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Some Ocean County voters who filled out their ballots and mailed them to the Board of Elections have wound up back in their mailboxes, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella said county officials have received "a relatively small number of inquiries" about the United States Postal Service returning completed vote-by-mail ballots to the voters, instead of delivering them to the county's Board of Elections.

The envelopes for returning vote-by-mail ballots had a revision this year, Colabella said, adding a window for the return address of the voter. The change was a request from the Board of Elections to improve their processing of returned ballots, he said.

The revised envelope was officially approved for mailing by graphic arts officials at the Postal Service for use, Colabella said.

"Apparently, on a very small amount of envelopes processed by the USPS, their staff scanned the voter's return address on their equipment rather than sending it to the Board of Elections address listed on the postage-paid portion of the envelope," Colabella said.

Ocean County officials notified both the Postal Service and the New Jersey Division of Elections when they received the first inquiry about a ballot being sent back to the voter, Colabella said.

"Officials from both government agencies assured our office that they would act immediately to prevent this issue from occurring," Colabella said.

Voters whose ballots are sent back to them have the following options:

• Personally hand-deliver their vote-by-mail allot to the Ocean County Board of Elections prior to 8 p.m. on Election Day;
• Drop their vote-by-mail ballot in any of the 20 designated secure vote-by-mail drop boxes located throughout the county before 8 p.m. on Election Day (see the locations below).

Ocean County mailed out more than 58,000 vote-by-mail ballots; more than 28,000 have been returned to the Board of Elections, a 48 percent return rate, which mirrors the average return rate statewide, he said.

Here are the secure drop box locations in Ocean County:

• Barnegat Library - 112 Burr Street, Barnegat
• Beachwood Library - 126 Beachwood Boulevard, Beachwood
• Berkeley Library - 30 Station Road, Bayville
• Brick Library - 301 Chambers Bridge Road, Brick
• Jackson Library - 2 Jackson Drive, Jackson
• Lacey Library - 10 E. Lacey Road, Forked River
• Lavallette Library (Upper Shores) - 112 Jersey City Avenue, Lavallette
• Little Egg Harbor Library - 290 Mathistown Road, Little Egg Harbor
• Long Beach Island Library - 217 S. Central Avenue, Surf City
• Manchester Library - 21 Colonial Drive, Manchester
• Northern Resource Center - 225 4th Street, Lakewood
• Ocean County Parking Garage - 3rd Floor, Madison Avenue, Toms River
• Ocean County Courthouse - 118 Washington Street, Toms River
• PIC, Inc. of Ocean County - 1959 Route 9, Toms River
• Plumsted Library - 119 Evergreen Road, New Egypt
• Point Pleasant Borough Library - 834 Beaver Dam Road, Point Pleasant
• Southern Resource Center - 179 South Main Street, Manahawkin
• Toms River Library - 101 Washington Street, Toms River
• Waretown Library- 112 Main Street, Waretown
• Whiting Reading Center/Library - 400 Lacey Road, Suite 5, Whiting