Know Your Voting Rights!

Election Day is November 8th, 2016! Make sure that you know your voting rights before you head out to the polls!

You have the right to vote on Election Day if:

1. You have registered to vote at least 21 days before Election Day. There is no fee to register to vote. You have the right to register at your primary address – this could be college address if you are a student and if you are homeless, it can be any place you usually stay.
2. You must meet the legal requirements in order to register.

You can register to vote if:

1. You are a U.S. citizen, you are at least 17 years old (with the understanding that you cannot vote until you are 18), and have been a resident of a New Jersey county for at least 30 days before the election.
2. A court has not specifically determined that you lack the mental capacity to understand the act of voting.
3. You are not in prison, on probation, or on parole for a felony conviction. If you are serving time for a misdemeanor or civil matter, you can still vote. You have the right to register and to vote from jail using a mail-in ballot. If you lost your voting rights for a felony conviction, your right to vote is restored once you complete your sentence, parole and probation. You must re-register to vote, even if you were registered before your conviction.

NJ Voters’ Bill of Rights On Election Day

You have the right:

1. To vote in private without intimidation, threats, coercion, or interference.
2. To bring your children into the voting booth with you.
3. To file a signed or anonymous written complaint at your polling place or by mail, telephone, or online if you are dissatisfied with the way the election is being run.
4. To bring someone of your choice into the voting booth to assist you with voting if you cannot read or write English or have a disability. You can also request special assistance from the poll worker.
5. To vote by an emergency paper ballot if the machines are malfunctioning. Emergency ballots are counted automatically.
6. To be given a provisional ballot if you are not allowed to vote on an machine or by emergency ballot. The ballot should have written instructions, including how to find out if it was counted. Your eligibility to vote must be verified by the county before your provisional ballot is counted.
7. To vote under your original name if you have changed your name since registering to vote.
8. To ask for assistance from a poll worker.
9. To maintain a “reasonable” amount of time to cast your vote in the voting booth.
10. Bring voting materials (such as the sample ballot), but no other campaign materials into the voting booth to help you.

Voting Problems at the Polls?

If your polling location is not open when you arrive, call our hotline at 1-800-792-VOTE (8683) or the Division of Elections at 1-877-NJVOTER to alert officials of the problem. Polls are open 6am-8pm. If your right to vote is challenged by an official challenger, ask the poll worker for an affidavit, which you will sign to confirm your identity or address. The worker will allow you to vote either on the machine or by a provisional ballot.

You have the right to vote by Provisional Ballot if:

1. You believe you are entitled to vote but your name is not on the poll list of voters.
2. You have moved recently within your county and have not registered at your new address.
3. You are a first-time voter and you did not provide the accepted form of ID when you registered to vote and did not bring it on Election Day. You must bring acceptable ID to the appropriate county office within 48 hours of voting for your provisional ballot to be counted. Poll workers must give you a form that tells you where the office to bring your ID is located.
4. You requested a mail-in ballot but didn’t receive it in time.

If you are not allowed to vote or if you feel you are wrongly made to vote on a provisional ballot when you’re entitled to vote on the machine, you have the right to present your case to an election judge on Election Day who will determine your eligibility to vote. If you intend to appear before an election judge, call our Voter Protection Hotline at 1-800-792-VOTE (8683) for assistance.