A Bergen County woman won’t be able to vote in Tuesday’s general election because she didn’t change her voter registration after moving from Hudson County last year.
Deputy Attorney General Thomas Lihan said records from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission showed the woman checked a box saying she did not wish to change her voter registration to her new address.
Asked by Superior Court Judge Kelly Conlon if she recalled checking that box in 2023, the woman said, “I thought I did, but apparently I did not.”
Conlon’s ruling that the woman, whose name is being withheld by the New Jersey Globe, could not vote stands in contrast to a bid by a 90-year-old Monmouth County woman to vote even though she also did not appear on the voter rolls.
In that case, the voter said she thought she had checked the box at the MVC office. Another Superior Court Judge, Linda Grasso Jones, said she believed the woman had intended to check a box to register to vote.
One difference between the two voter registration challenges: in Monmouth, the commissioner of elections and an attorney representing one of the political parties were in a court hearing to advocate for the voter; in Bergen, the would-be voter was alone.
The attorney, Jason Sena, told the judge that the admission of the MVC record was hearsay and that it shouldn’t be admitted as fact because no one from the agency was there to answer questions about it.
In that instance, the judge found the computer screen at the MVC could be confusing and accepted the voter at her word.
The Bergen woman accepted the deputy attorney general’s representation that she had made a mistake, perhaps not knowing that it was possible the Motor Vehicles Commission might have been at fault.
“Why are we turning away eligible voters? Year after year, New Jersey disenfranchises voters because of our arbitrary 21-day registration deadline,” said Henal Patel, the law and policy director at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “It’s shameful and unnecessary. It is long past time for us to join the over 20 states that have same-day voter registration.”
If you are not allowed to vote or feel incorrectly pushed to vote on a provisional ballot when you’re entitled to vote on the machine, you can present your case to a Superior Court Judge to determine your eligibility to vote. Judges will be on call for each of the nine days of early voting; hearings are done remotely, and you can attend a hearing via Zoom from your phone at a polling location.
Voters should not readily accept being turned away. Ask to speak to the person in charge, known as the Super Poll Worker, the individual who is most fluent in ways that can help you vote.
If you intend to appear before an election judge, you may call the ACLU Voter Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) or contact your county election officials. Click HERE for a list.