2020 Primary: How To Vote In Wyckoff

WYCKOFF, NJ — If you've never voted by mail before, 2020 might just be the year.

COVID-19 has delayed this year's election to July 7, closed polls and forced the state into a "primarily" vote-by-mail approach to casting your ballot.

"Our goals are twofold," Gov. Phil Murphy said when he made the announcement in May. "To maximize our democracy while minimizing the risk of illness. We want everyone to participate in a safe, fully democratic process."

Murphy also said that there will be polling places open in every municipality to ensure that everyone can exercise their right to vote and at least 50 percent of the normal locations per county.

Murphy added that voters who have not been able to seamlessly transition to a mail-in process, like those with a disability, will be kept safe when they cast their vote.

"Social distancing protocols will be enforced within these polling locations including the sanitizing of every touch screen, voting machine in between voters," he said.

The Process

All registered Democratic and Republican voters will automatically receive a postage paid vote-by-mail ballot while all unaffiliated and inactive voters will automatically receive a postage paid vote-by-mail application. Those ballots can be sent back by mail or dropped in one of the boxes.

Where To Vote: In-Person

A single voting machine will be placed at each of the two polling locations in Wyckoff for the primary elections. According to a notice posted to the township website, these locations are strictly for voters who are "blind, physically disabled or illiterate."

Any voter requesting to use the voting machine must fill out a disability certificate for assistance.

Votes can be cast in person at:

• Cedar Hill Christian Reformed Church, 416-422 Cedar Hill Ave., for District 1,4,5,8 and 10.
• Wyckoff Library, 200 Woodland Ave., for District 2,3,6,7 and 9.

Vote-By-Mail Drop Boxes:

• Wyckoff doesn't have a drop box in the township, according to the post, but the nearest secure ballot drop box is in Ridgewood, outside the Village Hall at 131 N. Maple Avenue.

Other locations in Bergen County include:

• Demarest - 118 Serpentine Road, Demarest, NJ (Borough Hall)
• Fort Lee - 1355 Inwood Terrace/Anderson Avenue Circular Driveway (Fort Lee Community Center)
• Hackensack - One Bergen County Plaza, Hackensack, NJ (County Administration Building)
• Ramsey - 30 Wyckoff Avenue (Library - in rear of building)
• Rutherford - 176 Park Avenue, Rutherford (Borough Hall)

Ballot drop boxes are available 24-hours a day, but ballots must be in the drop box by 8 p.m. on election night to be counted.

All mail-in ballots must be postmarked by the July 7 election day, but, according to Murphy, if the county board of elections receives the ballot within seven days after the polls closed, it will still be counted.

"We expect a greater than normal vote-by-mail turnout the deadline," he said. "And we will ensure that every vote is counted."