500 Republicans in NJ town got ballots with Dems’ names

BERNARDSVILLE — Every Republican in the borough was mailed a corrected ballot Tuesday after "human error" led to about 500 misprinted primary election ballots being sent out, according to the Somerset County Clerk.

"The printer erroneously included the Democratic candidates on some Republican ballots in Bernardsville," Somerset County Clerk Steve Peter said in a written response to New Jersey 101.5 News.

The Somerset County Board of Elections, the agency that counts the votes, will review all completed ballots that are sent in, Peter said, noting the corrected ballots are clearly marked as such on the outer envelope, so as to be easily distinguished from the misprinted ballots.

Peter said the proofs reviewed in the Clerk's Office had no error, before the unspecified mistake at the printer's facility.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Primary Election will be conducted primarily by Vote by Mail statewide.

On July 7, limited polling locations will be open 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. at which people requiring special accommodations can vote on an assistive device, or other registered people can vote by paper provisional ballot.

The initial change in the primary election date from June 2 to July 7 was announced in April.

In May, 32 municipalities in New Jersey held entirely vote-by-mail elections for school board, special and fire district elections.

Peter said the county is awaiting instructions from the state as to how the general election in the fall will be conducted.

Because New Jersey is a closed Primary Election state, in order to receive a ballot, an Unaffiliated voter must declare an affiliation with the Democratic or Republican party to receive that party’s Vote by Mail Ballot.

Unaffiliated voters have until June 30 to apply for a mail-in ballot by mail, or 7 days before the primary election.

A voter may also apply in-person to the respective County Clerk prior to 8 p.m. on the day of the election.

The voter then can opt to switch back to an Unaffiliated status after the Primary Election, by completing and returning a Party Declaration Form to your County Commissioner of Registration.

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