Be armed with the facts if you hear any of these.
- “It’s fraud, I just got a ballot for people who moved 5 years ago.” or “I got two ballots, one with my maiden name and one with married.”
- The voter database is only as good as the information it contains. When people pass away, move away, get married, the database does not always get updated. The security features are robust in NJ and there is no evidence of widespread fraud at any scale. Plus, voter fraud is a felony, which is a major deterrent.
- “They are mailing ballots to everyone and people can just show up and vote at the polls too.”
- No. Anyone who shows up at the polling place on election day will probably be voting by provisional ballot, with rare exceptions. This means the Board of Elections will only count the provisional ballot when they confirm you have not voted in another way.
- “They are harvesting ballots, filling them out, and returning them.”
- Yes, this can happen. And when you hear about it, it’s because they have been caught. When you return a ballot for someone else, you must complete the Bearer portion. No one can return more than three ballots. And drop boxes are under video surveillance, should fraud be suspected.
Read more about the myths of voter fraud, which are really just voter suppression in disguise.