Register to Vote: Deadline is TODAY

Polling locations (0.00 / 0)

The following are a series of questions that I do not know the answers to, but are incredibly important.

Where and how can we check which polling location we are registered for?

How can you change your polling location?

Do you need to be a registered member of the party in which you desire to vote?

How far in advance of the primary do you have to register with this party?

If you are not currently registered with a party, how can you go about doing that?

If anyone has answers, it would be greatly appreciated.  

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by: MattF @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 19:59:22 PM UTC

some answers (0.00 / 0)

Where and how can we check which polling location we are registered for?

  That I don't know. If you are already a registered voter, you should receive your sample ballot soon. Watch the mail. Your district and the polling place is on the front of the sample ballot.

How can you change your polling location?

  You can vote via absentee ballot (but it may be too late for that if you haven't yet registered and declared a party affiliation). Other than moving, I know of no other way to change your polling place.

Do you need to be a registered member of the party in which you desire to vote?

  Yes, for primaries only. If you want to vote in the Democratic primary in Feb. you must declare as a Democrat, but come November 2008 if for some reason another party's candidate looks like a better choice to you, you may vote for any party's candidate in the general election regardless of your party affiliation.

How far in advance of the primary do you have to register with this party?

   If you have not previously declared yourself a member of a party, you can declare your affiliation the day of the vote at your polling place. You fill out a form and then you vote. If you have previously been registered, say, as a Green or a Republican, and now you want to vote in the Democratic primary, there is another form but I believe this must be attended to before the day of the election. Someone else can clarify this-I've been a registered Democrat since 1975 so I wouldn't know :)

If you are not currently registered with a party, how can you go about doing that?

   See above. Go to your polling place, ask the nice person for the form, fill it out, vote.  

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 20:13:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

find your polling place here (0.00 / 0)

http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ele...

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 20:15:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

change your party affiliation here (0.00 / 0)

http://www.nj.gov/lps/election...

if you have never declared an affiliation, you can do so the day of the primary. If you have done so in the past, you must file the form 50 days before the election, so it is already too late to do so for Feb. 5

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 20:17:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

and use MSIE (0.00 / 0)

the state of NJ does not recognize firefox, apparently.

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 20:26:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Firefox and NJ, perfect together (0.00 / 0)

My Firefox works fine with all NJ state web sites I have used.

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by: billbrown201 @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 21:31:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This form... (0.00 / 0)

... is from years ago, before party affiliation could be declared on the Voter Registration form.  (Aside: I'm convinced that the reason there are so many "independents" in New Jersey is not because we're so independent-minded or post-partisan but mostly because you used to have to file only one form to register and vote in general elections, but two to declare party affiliation.)

The current version of the Voter Registration Form allows for its use for "Political Party Affiliation or Non-Affiliation Change."

It seems counterintuitive that you should be able to newly register at this time, but not to affiliate with a political party.  Yet you're right -- that's exactly what the official 2008 primary election timeline indicates.  But the timeline doesn't have the force of law, and the statute itself is a little more forgiving.  It says:

No voter, except a newly registered voter at the first primary at which he is eligible to vote, or a voter who has not previously voted in a primary election, may vote in a primary election of a political party unless he was deemed to be a member of that party on the 50th day next preceding such primary election.

N.J.S.A. 19:23-45.  I think one could argue, based on the above, that an unaffiliated voter who had never voted in a party primary should be permitted to vote if s/he wants to.  On the other hand, how do you prove that you're such a voter?

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by: John Bartlett @ Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 21:48:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Unaffiliated voters can vote in primaries (0.00 / 0)

 As Dennis said above, an unaffiliated voter can declare at the polling place for either party.  

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by: Lacey Davenport @ Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 02:39:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

See NJLWV's Guide ... (0.00 / 0)

http://www.lwvnj.org/VotersSer...

I think most questions remaining are covered here. The take-home message is: IF YOU HAVE NEVER VOTED BEFORE IN A NEW JERSEY PRIMARY, AND YOU DID NOT DECLARE A PARTY AFFILIATION WHEN YOU REGISTERED, YOU MAY DECLARE YOUR AFFILIATION AT THE POLLING PLACE THE DAY OF THE PRIMARY and VOTE. If you don't remember how you registered, you can check your voter history at the nj elections link provided in an earlier post by me in this thread (and though some say the Java interface works using Firefox, it doesn't for me and you may find msie does it better - and i'm not shilling for MS, trust me ... )

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 19:48:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mail in voting (0.00 / 0)

I called the Board of Elections yesterday about procedure for unaffiliated voters if one votes by mail and got the following response...

If you are  voting by mail, and if you are unaffiliated, just declare your party affiliation on the flap of the envelope provided.

The person answering had to research this a few minutes before answering. So according to this response, the form for affiliation is not needed. Anyway, that's what the Board of Elections told me.

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by: westcoast @ Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 18:55:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

try this! (0.00 / 0)

print one out and give it to the barista wherever you get your coffee.

or print two out and be more ambitious than i was.

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 16:48:44 PM UTC