PASCACK VALLEY—Despite efforts by county election officials to increase early voting through outreach to community public access stations, weekly newspapers, and municipal websites, these initiatives resulted in only a slight increase in early voting in the June 4 primary election.
Elections officials told Pascack Press that 5,995 voters in Bergen County cast their ballots early in the June 4 primary over five days.
In contrast, last year’s primary, which was a non-presidential year, saw 1,274 voters participate in early voting over three days, according to Debra Francica, Bergen County’s Superintendent of Elections.
Out of 665,551 registered voters in the county, 13.4% (89,280) voted in the June 4 primary, reported the county clerk’s office.
Weeks before the June 4 primary, county officials promoted early voting on sample ballots and in a four-page brochure mailed to every registered voter in Bergen County May 29–June 2.
In the Nov. 5 presidential election, voters will have the opportunity to vote early over nine days, Oct. 26–Nov. 3, elections officials said.
Pre-election mailings highlighted the county’s nine early voting locations, including River Vale Senior & Community Center and Woodcliff Lake Tice Senior Center, along with the times and hours for early voting.
Registered voters from any Bergen County town can vote at any of the nine early voting polling locations countywide. Additional early voting sites include Fort Lee, Garfield, Hackensack, Paramus, Teaneck, Wood-Ridge, and Wyckoff. More information is available on the county clerk’s office website or by consulting your municipal clerk.
Early voting was officially introduced in 2021, following Gov. Phil Murphy’s signing of an early voting law in response to the 2020 pandemic. Murphy had mandated that all voters use mail-in ballots for the 2020 primary and general elections due to pandemic concerns.
For the June 4 primary, early voting took place over five days leading up to the election, May 29–June 2. Elections officials hoped this would encourage more voters to participate early, avoiding crowds and delays on Election Day.
“To promote early voting for the Nov. 5 general election, as we did for this primary early voting cycle, we plan to advertise again in 20 weekly newspapers with full-page ads the week before early voting begins as well as promote early voting on the cable access stations of our 70 municipalities,” Francica said.
She added, “Many of our municipalities also promote early voting and make announcements at their meetings as well. We urge voters to vote early because of the crowds at the polls during a presidential election.”
Early Voting Benefits
In Pascack Valley’s eight communities, early voter turnout remained low, generally at 1% to 2%, with the highest turnout in two towns hosting early voting sites. In River Vale, 82 voters (3.14% of 2,610 registered voters) voted early. In Woodcliff Lake, 72 voters (5.34% of 1,348 registered voters) voted early.
The majority of primary election voters turned out at the polls on June 4, with vote-by-mail ballots being the second most popular option, according to county election data.
Bergen County elections officials, leveraging lessons learned, told us that they hoped by increasing awareness of early voting days they could prevent overcrowding at the Nov. 5 presidential election, increase familiarity with the county’s new Dominion voting machines, and let voters experience the convenience of early voting.
Primary voter turnout in the Pascack Valley was generally around 20%, with the highest turnout in Westwood at 23.21%.