Will Beer Sales Dwindle? Mail-in Ballots’ Tallied in a Whiz

COURT HOUSE – One facet of election night will change forever in Cape May County. That’s because mail-in ballots, which are increasing in popularity with voters at each election, will be counted by a new machine at the rate of 1,500 in two minutes.
“That will be really bad for beer sales,” quipped Freeholder Will Morey May 27.
Counting ballots, formerly known as absentee ballots, used to take hours. During that agonizing count, many candidates sweated and likely sipped a brew or two as the count slowly progressed.
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton recalled at the same freeholder meeting when he was on the Board of Elections. There were some nights that lingered until 4 a.m. before the counting those absentee ballots was completed. He remembered how Superior Court Judge John Callinan, was election judge one night. AS the hour grew late, Thornton sought a reprieve from Callinan to send the workers home and allow them to return in the morning. Callinan, he said, would have none of it, and ordered the counters to remain until the task was completed.
County Clerk Rita Fulginiti and Michael Kennedy, registrar from the county Board of Elections, addressed freeholders about the upgrade to voting machines and counters approved in September 2013 when a seven-year contract was approved with Dominion Voting.
“The best part of mail-in ballots is the fact that the mail-in ballots are designed like sample ballots in columns,” said Fulginiti. “Which is the way voters are used to looking at ballots, with candidates in columns. It is much easier for voters to vote that way,” she added.
“In 2009, the Vote-by-Mail law was enacted making it easier to vote by mail than ever before,” she continued. “No longer do voters need a reason to get a mail-in ballot.”
A simple, one-page application for mail ballot is available at the County Clerk’s office. On the form a voter can opt to receive mail-in ballots for all elections during the remainder of that calendar year or for all future November general elections only. The form must be completed annually for those desiring ballots for fire district and special school elections, she noted.
Fulginiti said there were 2,545 who asked for just the general election ballots while 997 signed up to receive all ballots.
“The number is growing,” said Fulginiti, referring to voters who cast a ballot by mail.
In 2004, “before all this happened,” in the presidential election 8.5 percent of votes cast were mail-in ballots. In the 2012 presidential election, 11 percent of the votes were case by mail-in ballots. We see mail-in ballots are going to grow because of convenience,” Fulginiti said.
“If you move, will you still get a mail-in ballot?” asked Clerk of the Board Elizabeth Bozzelli.
Kennedy responded that sample ballots cannot be forwarded as can other first-class mail.
He said when a voter goes to Motor Vehicles Commission with an address change for their driver’s license, the board is immediately notified. “We get a list daily from MVC,” said Kennedy.
Fulginiti said if a sample ballot is returned to her office, “We are notified there is a problem with that voter.” A letter is sent to that voter seeking their correct address.
What about “early voting?” Morey asked. “We see that becoming more a factor.”
“We consider mail-in as early voting,” Fulginiti replied. “The term ‘early voting’ on a machine before Election Day is something we don’t have in New Jersey.”
She said discussions about early voting have taken place in the Garden State, but “it’s very expensive, you need to man the polling places and secure the ballots.”
Putting that into dollars, in Cape May County there are 127 voting districts. Each requires four poll workers, two each from both parties. Each worker receives $200 a day (from 5:15 a.m. when they must arrive although polls open at 6 a.m. until after 8 p.m. when polls close), or $800 per voting district or $102,400 for poll workers for one Election Day. Fulginiti said that sum compared to mailing ballots is one reason for no early voting by machine.
Fulginiti also said the clerk’s office is open every Saturday prior to an election for those who did not receive a sample ballot and get a mail-in ballot. A ballot can also be requested from the website, listed below.
In an effort to save tax dollars, many school districts hold their elections in concert with the November general election.
She also told the Herald that boards of education that opted to hold their elections in November are no longer required to have their budgets voted upon by the electorate.
In a PowerPoint presentation, the old style mail-in ballot was compared with the sample ballot look-alike. Party designations are easier to follow on the new ballot. In the former, names were listed without columns.
Another election night change for municipal clerks takes place after polls close, and their voting machine results are tallied. No election results can be transmitted via the Internet, Fulginiti said. Because of that, when municipal clerks were given laptop computers to relay information from voting machines, those results had to be send via dial-up telephone connections.
Three geographic sites were chosen to reduce clerks’ travel time and dedicated lines are used only for elections transmit information, she said.
One of those sites is just outside Woodbine in Dennis Township for northern municipalities; another in Court House for central municipalities, and the Board of Elections warehouse at the County Airport for southern municipalities.
“We feel this is more secure and convenient and results are back quicker,” said Fulginiti.
Once the information is received and validated, it is posted on www.capemaycountyvotes.com, the portal for election results and all other election information. The site’s software has been updated to allow for viewing on hand-held devices, such as iPads and iPhones, Fulginiti said.