About 15% of N.J. voters signed up to track their own ballots

Nearly one million New Jersey voters, roughly 15% of the electorate, have voluntarily signed up for a “Track My Ballot”  account with the Secretary of State so they can self-verify that their votes were received by election officials.

The number surged in 2020, when COVID-19 resulted in primary and general elections conducted almost entirely through vote-by-mail ballots.   Vote-by-mail ballots in the presidential election, and concerns over the reliability of the U.S. Postal Service, generated interest in voters taking responsibility for their own vote.

Of the 955,410 voters in the tracking system,  just 29,545 enrollments came since the 2020 general election.

According to data provided by the state Division of Elections, 661,321 New Jersey voters had established verified accounts with the state prior to November 2020, with 264,544 sign-ups in November.

In 2021, 25,324 voters registered “Track My Ballot” accounts.   But so far this year, just 1,730 voters statewide have signed up.

Once voters have enrolled, they can check daily to see if their ballot was received by election officials, and if it was rejected or accepted.  That gave voters a chance to see if they could “cure” the reason for the rejection proactively, rather than wait for a formal notice to arrive in the mail.

The process of signing up for a “Track My Ballot: account is slightly cumbersome.  Voters must create a user name, and provide either their drivers license number, voter identification number, r the last four digits of their social security number.

Click HERE to sign up.