SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — So-called “naked ballots” — mail ballots returned with small mistakes — won’t be accepted in New Jersey this year. Election officials missed the deadline to implement a law that allows voters to correct such minor errors, despite the law passing last year.
Mail-in ballots must be placed and sealed in an inner envelope and then in a signed outer envelope. In previous years, tens of thousands of ballots were rejected because voters made mistakes like returning a ballot without the inner envelope or failing to seal it properly.
The law, which passed last year, permits county officials to notify voters so they can make corrections, rather than tossing the ballot altogether. However, New Jersey election officials missed the summer deadline to implement the law.
Micah Rasmussen with Rider University said two recent scandals — the improper voter registrations of noncitizens and the investigation into the lieutenant governor’s conduct — likely contributed to the delay, which he said is unacceptable.
“Implementation of laws are not optional. You don’t get to decide we’re not doing this,” he said, “and that’s apparently what the state Division of Elections has done here.”
Rasmussen said it’s very important that voters are deliberate and follow directions on their mail-in ballots so that they are properly recorded and not tossed out for minor errors.
“This is a big deal,” he added, “and we don’t want votes to not be counted.”
Despite passing last year, the law will not be in effect for the November election
Despite passing last year, the law will not be in effect for the November election
