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Department of State

The Hon. Tahesha Way, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State

NEW JERSEY SECRETARY OF STATE AND DIVISION OF ELECTIONS PROVIDE IMPORTANT DATES ON ELECTION RESULTS CERTIFICATION PROCESS

TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 4, 2021 – In an effort to ensure the public and media have a comprehensive understanding of the vote-counting and election-certification process, The New Jersey Secretary of State and the Division of Elections are providing the following information regarding the 2021 election:

“New Jersey voters had three options to cast a vote in this election: vote by mail, in person early voting, and in person Election Day voting,” said New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “County election officials are working diligently to ensure all votes are counted. Once all votes have been counted, the counties will provide the results to the state in order to certify the 2021 election.”

County Clerks report that 956,803 vote-by-mail ballots were mailed to voters and 577,528 ballots have been received to date by County Boards of Elections. A total of 379,275 vote-by-mail ballots are thus far not returned.

The following are important upcoming dates in the election process in accordance with state statutes:

November 8
Deadline for Receipt of Timely Mailed Postmarked Mail-In Ballots to County Boards of Election – Per state law, vote by mail ballots postmarked by November 2 can still be received and counted through November 8, which is no later than 144 hours (6 days) after the time of the closing of the polls for the election.
N.J.S.A. 19:63-22

November 13
Deadline for Receipt of Cure Form to County Boards of Election – no later than 48 hours (2 days) prior to the final certification of the results of the election (an exact deadline date cannot be provided as certification date varies by county)
N.J.S.A. 19:63-17

November 15
Meeting of County Board of Canvassers for General Election – 13 days after the election
N.J.S.A. 19:19-1; N.J.S.A. 19:19-4; N.J.S.A. 19:19-6

November 20
Deadline for County Clerk to transmit Official General Election Results to the Secretary of State – 5 days after the meeting of the board
N.J.S.A. 19:20-6

December 2
Deadline for Meeting of Board of State Canvassers to Certify General Election Results -- on or before the 30th day after election
N.J.S.A. 19:21-1

New Jersey has an election audit law and an independent audit team. In compliance with state law, the proposed New Jersey Election Audit Procedure for the November 2, 2021 General Election is available here https://nj.gov/state/assets/pdf/proposed-rules-changes/2021-nj-election-audit-procedure-general-election-1026.pdf

In addition to the election certification process, voter’s using the Ballot Tracker tool on the Vote.NJ.Gov website should be aware that a voter's ballot status on the Tracker will be updated by each individual county. The amount of time it takes until updates are posted to the Track My Ballot tool will vary from county to county. Please check back periodically for updates to your ballot status.

For full details on the general election process, visit Vote.NJ.Gov, contact local election officials, or call the Voter Information and Assistance Line at 1-877-NJ-Voter (1-877-658-6837).

 


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