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Trenton,
NJ – State election officials reminded
New Jersey residents today that the deadline
to register to vote to be eligible to participate
in the February 5 presidential primary election
in New Jersey is Tuesday, January 15.
Applications
are available at county and municipal offices,
and available on line at the Division of Elections
Web site: www.nj.gov/oag/elections/voter-registration-application.html.
The
registration applications downloaded from
the website must be mailed to the County
Commissioner of Registration or Superintendent
of Elections in residents’ home counties
because original signatures are required.
For
in-person registration, county registration
offices will have extended hours on Tuesday’s
registration deadline, staying open until
9 p.m. A complete list of county offices
is available at: www.nj.gov/oag/elections/loc_officials_doe.html.
To
register in New Jersey, you must be a United
States citizen, at least 18 years old by
the next election and a resident of the
county for thirty days before the election.
New
Jersey’s primary election law allows
unaffiliated voters – those registered
voters who never affiliated with the Republican
or Democratic parties -- to choose a party
on Primary Day and vote in the primary.
However, voters already registered as Democrats
can only vote in the Democratic primary;
similarly, voters already registered as
Republicans can only vote in the GOP primary.
Cross-over voting is not allowed. The deadline
for switching party affiliations was December
17.
There
were almost 4.8 million people registered
to vote before the Nov. 6, 2007 general
election, including 1,164,504 Democrats,
874,457 Republicans and 2,756,759 unaffiliated
voters.
In
the 2004 primary election in New Jersey,
there were 251,688 Democratic ballots cast,
and 173,990 Republican ballots cast.
For
those registered voters wishing to cast
presidential primary votes by absentee ballots,
the deadline to file for an application
for an absentee ballot by mail is January
29. Applications are available online at:
www.nj.gov/oag/elections/absentee_doe.html
and must be mailed to the county clerk’s
office in the voter’s home county.
New
Jersey has a “no excuses’’
absentee ballot law, which means any voter
can vote by absentee ballot. The deadline
for applying in person at a county clerk’s
office for an absentee ballot is 3 p.m.
February 4, which is the day before the
Primary Election.
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