Not sure where to vote? It's easy to find out

Joseph P. Smith, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read

Voters can’t beat the old-fashioned, mailed-to-your-door sample ballot for eliminating all doubt about where their polling station is, according to the Gloucester County Board of Elections.

“That’s the best because, again, it goes out about a week before the election,” Superintendent Stephanie Salvatore says, relying on her three decades in the field.

“Say, your polling place changed from last year to this year,” Salvatore said. “Well now, because yours changed, I’ll put it in bigger, bolder, and red to draw attention to it. Like, ‘You vote at the firehouse.’ So, anybody who has something new, I tend to do those bigger and bold and red. But the ones that are staying the same are just the regular, black font.”

Salvatore said those sample ballots also are tracked to ensure they are mailed. But, a call to your municipal clerk’s office or an elections board office can get you the same information about your specific polling station.

But, this is the online access age. You can find your polling place at https://voter.svrs.nj.gov/polling-place-search, where you just enter your street address and zip code.

Democrat vs republican poll, democratic decision and primary voting conceptual idea with Vote election campaign button badges and the united states of america flag
Democrat vs republican poll, democratic decision and primary voting conceptual idea with Vote election campaign button badges and the united states of america flag

Salvatore said earlier election law deadlines might be helpful, by getting voting location information out earlier to residents.

For instance, sample primary election ballots start being mailed on May 22. That’s ahead of the start of early voting machine option, but not by much. Early voting starts May 29 and goes through June 2.

Salvatore said something new is that voters can get site information by scanning quick reaction or QR barcodes. A regular barcode has information related to a specific item. A QR barcode codes more data, like the address for a polling station.

“I got some cards made up so that, people who are more technical, they can just scan the bar code and put in their name and it will tell them where they vote,” Salvatore said.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

Have a tip? Reach out at jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Sample ballots say where to vote, but maybe try the phone or online