Ocean County voters to cast ballots Tuesday on new voting machines

TOMS RIVER - Ocean County voters will cast ballots in Democratic and Republican primaries for state, county and municipal offices on new voting machines this Tuesday.

In March, the county Board of Commissioners approved a $9.4 million measure to replace its Dominion voting machines with ones from Election Systems and Software, despite a double-counting error by the machines in six Monmouth County polling districts last year.

George R. Gilmore, chairman of the bipartisan county Board of Elections, has dismissed any concerns raised about a potential issue with the ES&S machines.

Ocean County has purchased a newer software version for the ES&S machines, which include security protocols that make certain a ballot can only be read once, according to the county Division of Public Information.

How we got here: Ocean County election board to propose new voting machines

“We closely worked with the Board of Elections and the Ocean County Clerk in choosing a voting machine that will be easy to use while making certain the vote is safe and secure,” said Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, liaison to the election board, in a prepared statement last week.

The need to replace the machines has been part of a statewide move to transition to ones in which there is a paper ballot record of every vote.

“The new voting machines will be used during early voting which runs from Friday, June 2 through Sunday, June 4 and on Primary Election Day on June 6,” Haines said.

The county has purchased 850 new voting machines for use on election days only and 72 machines for early voting use only.

Ocean County Clerk Scott M. Colabella said instructions on how to use the new machines are included in the sample ballots that have been sent out from his office to more than 400,000 voters in the county.

“Voters should carefully review their sample ballots,” Colabella said in the same statement. “There is a wealth of helpful information included.”

Sample ballots have been mailed to voters and can also be accessed on the county clerk’s website at www.clerk.co.ocean.nj.us. Additionally, poll workers will be available to assist voters at their assigned polling places, he said.

Related: Ocean County to replace all its Dominion voting machines with ES&S, despite Monmouth double-counts

The error in Monmouth County resulted in a change in the outcome of last November’s election for the Ocean Township Board of Education — three months after the fact — but not before the wrong candidate had been administered the oath of office and was seated.

ES&S said the mistake occurred during a software re-installation last July, which had not been done correctly and caused a double count of votes in six districts spread across a total of four towns — Belmar, Fair Haven and Tinton Falls, in addition to Ocean Township.

Last year, in Rhode Island, ES&S had to credit that state government $47,644 following undetected “programming errors” during that state’s September primary’s early voting period when some Spanish ballots on new touch-screen voting machines listed candidates from the 2018 election.

Ocean County Commissioner Gary Quinn, liaison to the county clerk’s office, said election officials are working diligently to make sure the election here runs smoothly “and all votes are counted and are secure.”

“It’s imperative that elections in Ocean County and anywhere for that matter are convenient and secure for our residents,” Quinn said. “Voting is a fundamental right and we must take every step to ensure the integrity of every vote that is cast.”

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and voters have until 3 p.m. Monday to apply in person for a vote-by-mail ballot at the Ocean County Clerk’s Office at 118 Washington St. (inside the old Ocean County Courthouse) in downtown Toms River, Colabella said.

The clerk’s office had issued 43,079 vote-by-mail ballots for this year’s primary election, Colabella said.

As of last Wednesday, a total of 13,393 ballots had been returned to the Board of Elections — 7,224 from registered Democrats and 6,169 from registered Republicans, Colabella said.

This year, every seat in the state Legislature will be on the ballot — 40 in the Senate and 80 in the Assembly. Following a legislative redistricting after the 2020 Census, a few Ocean County municipalities are moving into different districts for the first time this decade.

Under the new map, Lakehurst and Manchester are now part of the 9th Legislative District instead of the 10th Legislative District, while Seaside Park and South Toms River have moved from the 9th District to the 10th District. Additionally, Point Pleasant has moved from the 30th District to the 10th District.

Contact Asbury Park Press Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean County voters to cast ballots Tuesday on new voting machines