In a letter to the editor, Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher reminds readers that under new state law, they must opt out of vote-by-mail lists by going to the Hudson County Clerk’s Office by the end of the business day Friday.
Dear Editor,
Governor Murphy signed a law on August 10th with a number of changes to our NJ Election laws relating to VOTING BY MAIL (S-647).
Our State Senator Brian Stack and Assemblyman Raj Mukherji were among the sponsors of this legislation. The intent is to increase voter participation, but one part of the new law that requires the immediate attention of some of you, and possibly a response is:
IF YOU REQUESTED A BALLOT TO VOTE BY MAIL IN THE 2016 GENERAL (PRESIDENTIAL) ELECTION, AND ONLY FOR THAT ELECTION, YOU HAVE BEEN SIGNED UP TO AUTOMATICALLY VOTE BY MAIL FOR ALL ELECTIONS, FOREVER.
If this applies to you, then you should have received the attached letter from the Hudson County Clerk informing you of this.
IF YOU WANT TO OPT OUT of this, then you must do so in writing.
If you want your opting out to be effective for the upcoming General Election on Tuesday November 6th, you must do so by this Friday, September 14th. Instructions are in the letter.
If your opting out instructions are received after Friday, September 14th, the you will be just opting out of all future elections after the upcoming general election on November 6th.
If you do not opt out or your notification to opt out is received too late, and you want to vote on Election Day this November 6th, you will not be able to vote in the machine.
You will, however, be able to Vote by Mail OR submit a provisional ballot at your polling location on Election Day.
Applying to Vote By Mail – Rule Changes:
OLD RULES / Prior to the law change: you could apply to vote by mail and select one of two options – either for the current calendar year OR for all November elections going forward.
NEW RULES / With the law change: you can apply for either ALL elections going forward OR just one election in the current calendar year.
Click HERE for the new Vote By Mail application.
What does this mean for you for this year and going forward:
You are being added to the automatic and forever list if any of the following applies:
If you applied for a ballot previously having checked the box that says all November General elections and still receive ballots. E.G. – you applied in 2015, and have received ballots for every November election since.
If you applied in 2016, checked the box that says ONLY the November General election that year.
You are not being added to the automatic and forever list if any of the following applies:
If you applied in 2016, checked the box that says ONLY one of the elections (E.G. the primary) other than the November General election.
If you applied in any other year (2017 or 2018 for example), and checked the box that says ONLY one election (whether November General or any others) that year.
Editor’s Note: This is an abridged version of the original letter, which can be read in its entirety here.Â
Isn’t voting by mail a good thing? Why opt out????
Dear GOD Councilwoman, I luv ya but that is the most convoluted, overwrought letter ever!
Why are you promoting the opting out of mail in ballots? We are grownups, if we get a ballot in the mail we know how to use it.
Totally agree. This could have been explained in 3 short sentences. Fisher thinks her wordiness is a sign of her superior intellect much like Roman Brice thinks his convoluted unreadable prose are a sign of his cleverness. Both are wrong.
Actually, part of the point was to encourage people to vote and to vote by mail. That’s why included the pictures of the new application and gave the links. Sorry if it seemed too long. Tried to pack a lot in.