TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Voting in New Jersey’s Nov. 4 General Election is underway in Pascack Valley. Mail-in ballots have gone out — and are already coming back — while in-person early voting begins Oct. 25.
Seniors get hands-on lesson
Approximately 50 residents gathered Sept. 24 at Township of Washington Town Hall, where Bergen County election officials Debra Francica, superintendent of elections, and Wes Wagner, poll worker trainer and consultant, led a wide-ranging, hour-long program arranged by Clerk Sue Witkowski.
The session covered registration, mail-in and early voting, voting machines, drop boxes, and fraud safeguards. Francica and Wagner walked seniors step-by-step through casting a ballot on Dominion’s digital voting machines: making selections, reviewing them, printing the ballot, and waiting for the green check mark before removing it.
“I urge everyone to vote,” Francica told the group. “There are three ways: you can vote early on one of the nine days of early voting from Oct. 25 through Nov. 2, you can vote by mail, and of course you can vote in person on Nov. 4, Election Day. Whatever you choose, please exercise your right to vote. And if you are not registered, the deadline is Oct. 14.”
Mail-in ballots and provisional voting
Pascack Valley towns except Park Ridge have received ballots. Park Ridge’s ballots were delayed until Sept. 24 due to legal wrangling over a possible ballot recall question, now moot.
Wagner explained what happens if a voter registered to receive a mail-in ballot shows up at the polls. The system flags the voter, and a provisional ballot is issued. The voter fills it out behind the privacy screen, but the ballot is kept in a separate orange folder and not tabulated by the machine.
“If it’s determined the voter never submitted their mail-in ballot, then the provisional is counted,” Wagner said. “But if the mail-in was submitted, only that ballot is counted. A voter will only vote once.”
He demonstrated that scanning machines are programmed to reject provisional ballots — even if a poll worker mistakenly inserts one.
Drop boxes and postal delays
Each of Bergen County’s 35 ballot drop boxes is emptied daily by a Democrat, a Republican, and a police officer, officials said. At 8 p.m. on Election Night, the intake is sealed with a metal bar. All drop boxes are under 24/7 video surveillance.
Francica urged voters to use drop boxes instead of relying solely on the postal service. She cited a troubling case last year when a tray of ballots mailed weeks before the election did not arrive until May.
Local mail-in voters may use any Bergen County drop box, but ballots placed in another county’s box will not be delivered or counted. Francica emphasized ballots cannot be handed in at polling places on Election Day.
The Borough of Woodcliff Lake just announced a new ballot box has been installed outside Tice Senior Center, 411 Chestnut Ridge Road.
Early voting patterns
Bergen County’s first early-voting period in 2021 saw just over 19,000 participants. The 2024 presidential election, by contrast, drew 112,659 early voters.
“We had lines that went everywhere,” Francica recalled. “It finally caught on — no one wanted to come on Election Day.”
Wagner noted that in 2024, of 500,000 county voters, 112,000 cast ballots early and 100,000 by mail. “That means 40% of votes were cast before Election Day,” he said.
Francica projects as many as 50,000 early voters this year. “Today, across all demographics, voters see the advantage,” Wagner added. “You can vote on a Wednesday afternoon or a Friday morning. It’s convenient.”
Safeguards against fraud
Both officials underscored vigilance. Francica pointed to two recent Bergen County indictments: a woman who voted twice and a Park Ridge man who mailed in ballots four times.
She urged residents to return sample ballots mailed to deceased or relocated voters, marked “moved” or “deceased.” Since September 2022, elections official Jamie Sheehan-Willis has removed nearly 55,000 such names from county rolls. “It’s a security risk,” Francica said. “We don’t want people voting who are dead.”
Wagner emphasized that duplicate names are also being scrubbed. For every registered voter, public data includes name, address, voting district, party, and voting frequency, but not sensitive information like phone numbers or dates of birth.
• Deadline to register: Oct. 14 (must be U.S. citizen, at least 17, and a state/county resident 30 days prior to the election; cannot be serving a felony sentence).
- Early in-person voting: Oct. 25–Nov. 2. Hours: Mon.–Sat. 10 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Pascack Valley sites: River Vale Senior Community Center and Tice Senior Center, Woodcliff Lake.
- Deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot: Oct. 28. Applications must be signed originals submitted to the Bergen County Clerk. “Get your ballot in, get it counted, and be done with it,” Wagner told residents.
Township polling place moves to Bethany Community Center
With construction beginning soon on the DPW facility, parking at Town Hall will be limited. Mayor Peter Calamari announced Sept. 24 that the Township of Washington’s polling location will move to Bethany Community Center on Pascack Road for the Nov. 4 election.
Calamari said the site offers ample parking and easier access than the usual Hudson Avenue location.
“We’ll also use it for next year’s Primary and General elections,” Calamari said. “If it works out well, it may even become our long-term location.”
Clerk Sue Witkowski, the Bergen County Board of Elections staff, and Bethany Community Center leaders helped secure the new site. Notices will be sent to households in the coming weeks.