Ballot drop boxes are one of four ways New Jersey residents can submit their vote-by-mail ballot this election, and election officials say the boxes are a secure way to vote.

The collection process is undertaken daily, by a combination of Board of Election employees and law enforcement officers, officials in several counties told NJ Advance Media. Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3, to drop their ballot inside a box.

The boxes were introduced ahead of the July primary, which was New Jersey’s second election conducted during the coronavirus pandemic. (The boxes were not in place for May special elections held in a select number of towns.)

Boxes are similar to blue Postal Service drop-boxes, with a few key differences. Slots to insert ballots are significantly smaller than mail slots, and ballots are dropped into lockable metal boxes instead of into plastic bins like the Postal Service uses. Boxes are always emptied by at least two people daily, whereas mailboxes are emptied by a single postal worker six days a week.

In Hunterdon County, ballot boxes are emptied by Sheriff’s officers at least once every 24 hours, Board of Elections administrator Beth Thompson said. They’re hand-delivered inside secure, thick black bags by a pair of officers.

The box directly outside the Board of Elections on Main Street in Flemington is also emptied at least once a day, by a pair of elections staffers. In both cases, they are members of different political parties in order to keep the process non-partisan, Thompson said.

While that practice results in coworkers knowing that they have different affiliations, Thompson said her employees “leave their politics at the door.”

Ballots are collected from the boxes at least once a day, but trips can be made more often if necessary, Mercer County Board of Elections Chair, Anthony Francioso, told NJ Advance Media.

"If we notice, ‘boy, it’s awfully full,’ we’ll come twice a day,” he said.

In Mercer County, ballots are collected by a cross-party team of two election workers, who are accompanied by a detective from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. The pair removes the entire locked inner collection box and replaces it with a new collection box, Francioso said.

Cumberland and Monmouth Counties also depend on Board of Elections employees for collections, with Cumberland County sheriff’s officers accompanying employees in that county.

Turnaround for the ballots has been quicker than in a typical presidential year, Francioso said. Voters have gravitated towards the ballot drop boxes, in what he believes is an effort to avoid sending them through the mail.

In Mercer County, ballots are collected by a cross-party team of two election workers, who are accompanied by a detective from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. The pair removes the entire locked inner collection box and replaces it with a new collection box, Francioso said.

Cumberland and Monmouth Counties also depend on Board of Elections employees for collections, with Cumberland County sheriff’s officers accompanying employees in that county.

Turnaround for the ballots has been quicker than in a typical presidential year, Francioso said. Voters have gravitated towards the ballot drop boxes, in what he believes is an effort to avoid sending them through the mail.

The drop boxes are under 24/7 video surveillance, state officials have said.

Don’t wait until the last minute to drop off your ballot, Francioso warned. Much like traditional polling locations, voters must be in line to put their ballot in the box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, at which time the line will be cut off.

Voters don’t have to use a ballot drop box in their own town (not all towns will have a box), but should use one within their own county. Each county will have at least ten boxes, at least double the 105 that were installed before the July primary.

You can drop off more than one ballot at a time, but no more than three additional ballots per election and the “bearer” portion of the envelope must be filled out.

Voters can also deliver their ballots directly to the Board of Elections in their county, deliver it to their polling place before 8 p.m. on Election Day, or place it in the mail.

Because all active voters received a ballot in the mail, only provisional ballots can be cast at a polling location on Election Day. Voters with a qualifying disability can use a standard voting machine.

Original Article