Just SOME of the foul-ups listeners said happened at NJ polling sites (Opinion)

It’s not like any of this news is shocking. We knew that the mail-in ballot fiasco would cause a host of problems at the polling places. But the confusion and/or shenanigans were rampant.

The cluster-f was worse than we ever could have anticipated, listeners to the Dennis and Judi show on New Jersey 101.5 told us. Here’s what our listeners reported that they experienced yesterday.

A man walks in and says he never received his ballot, even after calling and requesting one from his county board of elections. He’s handed one to fill out right then and there and the poll worker takes it from him after it’s filled out and proceeds to put it in the envelope for him, noting “Oh, you’re a Republican, huh?” while sneaking a peek.

A woman asks where to drop her already filled out and sealed mail-in ballot and a worker says “Here. I’ll take it.” The woman watches as the worker hangs onto the envelope while having a conversation with someone. When asked, “Well? Are you going to put it where it belongs?” the worker answers, “Yes. I’ll get to it when I’m done talking.”

Another woman who never received her mail-in ballot is given another to fill out. She hands it to a poll worker and says “Do I need to show you ID or anything?” “No,” the volunteer answers. “I’m not allowed to.”

An elderly disabled woman with documentation is denied the right to vote. The poll worker has no idea that in-person voting was allowed for those with disabilities. She returns later in the day and is allowed to vote.

In several polling places, voting machines were “not working yet.” An elderly disabled man with documentation is told he has to be blind to be allowed to vote. Several calls to a “higher-up” confirm this falsehood.

And those snafus were only what we HEARD about. Imagine what went on that we DON’T know about?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.