PASCACK VALLEY—If you’re worried about long lines to cast your in-person vote on Presidential Election Day, Nov. 5, Bergen County’s superintendent of elections has two words for you: early voting.
“This year, early voting for the presidential election should be substantially higher. And next year is the gubernatorial contest,” said elections superintendent Debra Francica. She suggested voters try early voting for a happy, safe and secure voting experience.
Starting on Saturday, Oct. 26 and continuing through Sunday, Nov. 3, registered voters in Bergen County can vote in-person on a voting machine during a nine-day early voting period at any of nine early voting locations throughout the county. Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The public has not voted on a voting machine in a presidential election since 2016, which is the primary reason we are urging everyone to vote early,” Francica told us. “The early voting flyer, as well as the voting machine instruction videos in three languages, were sent to all 70 municipal clerks to promote on their local cable access TV stations and on their municipal webpages.”
She said, “In addition, the League of Women Voters [North Jersey] received the same information to promote. The county executive is promoting the early voting flyer in his September and October newsletters, and the Board of Commissioners was sent the early voting flyer and the voting machine instruction link as well.”
Two early-voting locations are in Pascack Valley: one at Tice Center in Woodcliff Lake and one at River Vale Senior Community Center at 640 Rivervale Road.
Francica told Pascack Press that she hopes at least 50,000 of more than 600,000 registered voters will take advantage of the early voting period. Unfortunately, she said, since early voting began in November 2021, the highest countywide participation was 19,563 early voters in 2022.
In 2020 during the Covid pandemic, Gov. Phil Murphy mandated mail-in ballots statewide to reduce the spread of Covid.
However, Francica said, while officials hoped early voting would gradually increase over the years, in 2023, early voting decreased with only 12,138 voting early. During the first year of early in-person voting in 2021, following Murphy’s signing it into law, 14,792 residents cast early ballots.
Francica urged voters to take advantage of the nine days of early voting. She said by voting early, voters will encounter minimal waits, if any, will use a voting machine like all other Election Day voters, and get in and out with minimal inconvenience.
She said every four years during a presidential election, voters who generally don’t vote in midterm elections or any other, come out for the presidential contest. She said these folks may cause delays due to their unfamiliarity with voting procedures and questions about the county’s new Dominion voting machines.
Under Elections & Voting on the County Clerk’s website, short videos on “Three Ways to Vote” and “How to Vote on the New Voting Machines,” are posted, along with a “Vote By Mail Instructional Video.” Registered voters can request VBM ballots via mail through Oct. 29. Ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 5 by U.S. mail or dropped in one of 32 secure ballot drop boxes countywide by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.
Francica said most early voting locations will have eight voting machines, called ballot marking devices, while Paramus and Teaneck locations will have 15 machines each and Fort Lee will have 12 machines. These are more than during the last November election, she said.
Francica said they have providing voter machine demonstrations when requested—dozens so far—and plan to advertise in local weeklies about a week before early voting begins.
She noted the public has not voted on a voting machine in a presidential election since 2016, due to the 2020 mandated vote by mail ballots. “That is the primary reason we are urging everyone to vote early. You get nine days, including Halloween (Oct. 31),” Francica said, noting some believe Halloween is the least-crowded day to vote on.
She said for seniors with a walker or wheelchair, or those with a disability, they should consider voting on one of the nine early voting days. Any registered voter can show up at any of the nine early voting locations and cast their ballot, she said.
“We don’t know why more people don’t take advantage of it, and we hope more will learn about it and take advantage. No one wants to wait in a long line on Election Day. This is one way to avoid that,” she told us.
She said she hopes voters tell other voters about early voting and that it becomes more popular. Poll workers are at each location for nine days ready to process voters, she noted.
Asked to estimate how many voters know about early voting, she said it probably was not a lot. Some may confuse it with mail-in voting, she said, but as more information spreads about it, she said she was hopeful early voting numbers will multiply.
She said security is “very tight” with the voting machines used in early voting. They are locked every night, and every compartment checked and sealed daily.