Governor Murphy and Superintendent Callahan Announce Administrative Order Concerning Polling Locations at Schools
TRENTON – Governor Murphy and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan today announced an administrative order which facilitates the safe operation of polling locations at schools for the November 2nd, 2021 General Election.
The order establishes that on November 2, 2021, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., the definition of “the indoor portion of school district premises” as used in Executive Order No. 251 (2021), which requires mandatory use of face masks by staff, students, and visitors, will temporarily exclude the following:
- Rooms within a school district premises that are used exclusively to conduct the General Election;
- For those districts that are serving as polling locations and are not simultaneously delivering full in-person instruction, the temporarily-excluded location shall also include any indoor space necessary to gain access to the aforementioned rooms;
For those districts that are serving as polling locations while simultaneously delivering in-person instruction, temporarily-excluded locations shall be secured by a door or barrier from the rest of the building such that there is no interaction between individuals accessing the voting equipment and students, school staff, or school administrators of the school district during the school day. To the extent possible, such locations shall be directly accessible from the outside. - If such direct access from the outside is not possible, the indoor space necessary to gain access to the temporarily-excluded location shall also be temporarily excluded and should be as secure and as segregated from the rest of the building as possible such that there is no interaction between individuals accessing the voting equipment and students, school staff, or school administrators of the school district during the school day. A district that cannot ensure that there is no interaction between individuals accessing the voting equipment and students, school staff, or school administrators of the school district during the school day should not offer full in-person instruction from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on November 2, 2021.
For a copy of the Administrative Order, please click here.