Hysterical voters denounce mail-in ballots weeks before Nov. 3 presidential election

We received our 3 mail-in ballots in late September.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I've long believed America has some of the laziest, most apathetic voters in the world, but now I see they are also some of the dumbest.

In New Jersey, vote-by-mail ballots for the Nov. 3 election are being sent to every "active registered voter," according to an executive order signed by Governor Murphy.

That order was cited by Bergen County Clerk John  S. Hogan, one of three county officials in charge of the election process.

The governor's executive order "aims to ensure that voters preserve their constitutional right to vote while upholding the priority of public health during the Covid-19 public health emergency," Hogan said.

But statewide voting by mail has unhinged at least one Maywood woman, who called for a class-action lawsuit against "our illegal, demonic governor."

Voting by mail

I and tens of thousands of other voters have used mail-in ballots for years in Hackensack school and City Council elections, in statewide primaries, and in general elections for governor, state Legislature, Congress and president.

We received our 3 mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election yesterday, and all registered voters should receive them by Oct. 5, Hogan said.

On Nov. 3, voters have three ways to cast their vote-by-mail ballots:

• Complete and return your ballot by mail in the postage-paid envelope provided. If postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10 at 8 p.m., the ballot will still be counted.
• Drop your completed ballot at one of "the secure drop boxes" located throughout Bergen County by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
• Bring your completed ballot to your polling place by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

There will be a limited number of polling places open on election day "with voting machines exclusively for blind and disabled voters," Hogan said in a flier sent to every residential postal customer.

Hysterical voters

On Nextdoor, an online community forum, one Maywood woman referred to Governor Murphy as "very evil" and called mail-in voting "nonsense."

She also referred to mail-in ballots as "voter interference" and "election intimidation," and claimed they are "criminally illegal."

She called on other voters to join her in a class-action lawsuit to sue "our illegal, demonic governor."

She complained a sports arena in Newark was being used as a voting place to intimidate voters like her, because the people who live there "believe in garbage movements" that are "nothing short of anarchist attempts to overthrow the government" -- an apparent reference to Black Lives Matter.

But she denied that she is a racist.

Sadly, she was not alone in trying to sow confusion about mail-in ballots, and cite conspiracy theories and other nonsense, echoing President Trump.

Nextdoor usually is a forum for the exchange of helpful information, goods and services. 

Track your ballot

Mail-in ballots have become easier to use in recent years, and for the Nov. 3 election, you can actually "track your ballot" and see if it has been received by the Board of Elections.

The return envelope doesn't require postage as in the past -- it's postage paid.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 presidential election is Oct. 13, 2020. Visit njelections.org.

That is also the site where you can track your ballot.

Watch this short video of Hogan demonstrating how to fill out and mail your ballot.

 

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