Election Victories

NOV. 3, 2020: AN ELECTION LIKE NEVER BEFORE

A president. A U.S. senator. All 12 of New Jersey’s members of Congress. Fifty labor candidates endorsed by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO for county and local elected offices.

In 2020, New Jerseyans will cast their ballots mostly by mail. Under state law, all of the state’s active registered voters will receive Vote-by-Mail postpaid ballots.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VOTING BY MAIL

You Can Track Your Vote-by-Mail Ballot! CLICK HERE to Sign Up!

Election Overview

The Nov. 3, 2020, General Election will be conducted primarily by mail.
Active voters do not need to apply for a VBM ballot. Postage pre-paid ballots were mailed to all active voters from Sept. 19 through Oct. 5.
Any new voter who registered on or before Oct. 13 will automatically receive a VBM ballot within 3 business days.

Returning Voted VBM Ballots

A voter can place their sealed ballot in the U.S. Postal Service BUT it must be postmarked by 8 p.m. Nov. 3.
A voter can place their sealed ballot in a secure and sanitized ballot drop box or to their county Board of Elections office no later than 8 p.m. Nov. 3.
A voter can return their own completed and sealed ballot (and only their own) to the designated polling place on Election Day (ID required).

Voting on Election Day

Any voter who has not cast his or her ballot by mail may deliver the completed VBM ballot in person to the designated polling place by 8 p.m. on Election Day (it may not be your usual polling place).
Any voter who has not cast his or her ballot by mail may vote in person on Election Day by provisional paper ballot only (it may not be your usual polling place). Voting machines will not be used.
Voters with disabilities may vote in person on Election Day with special accommodations.

Other Important Things to Know

Voters who come in person to their polling place get a provisional ballot to ensure they are not voting twice.
A provisional ballot that voters fill out at their polling place is identical to the paper ballot all voters received at home.
Voters who want to go to their polling place (it may be different from the usual polls) should take their completed Vote-by-Mail ballot and hand it to a poll worker.

Three Keys to a Ballot that Counts

CLICK HERE TO TRACK YOUR VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT

Let’s make sure all votes are properly cast, accurate, and counted!

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Damaged Ballot? Lost Ballot? Made a Mistake?

Contact Your County Clerk

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Want to Deliver Your Ballot in Person? Go to Your County Election Board

Secure Drop Boxes for Ballots in New Jersey

Box Locations by County

Boxes are monitored 24/7 and sanitized. Ballots are collected at least once daily.

Click the name of your county to see a list of ballot box addresses. This list is accurate as of Sept. 29,2020.

Addresses of drop boxes in this list are linked to online maps for your convenience.

Voting by Mail 2020: Step by Step

What you get in the mail

Ballots vary by county, so yours may look different or be a different size and shape.

Your Instruction Sheet

For your vote to count, you must follow the instructions precisely.

Your Ballot

Ballots vary by county, so yours may be a different size and shape and it will have different candidates.

Follow the instructions precisely. Fill in the oval completely. Make no stray marks. Check both sides of the ballot.

Your Ballot Certification And Inner Security Envelope

Fill out the certification and sign it. Your signature must match the one on file at the Election Board. Then put your completed ballot in the security envelope.

Your Postpaid Return Envelope

Put your inner security envelope with the certification still attached into the outer return envelope. If there is a return address area, fill it out and sign it. Your address must match the one where this was mailed. If there is a window in the envelope, make sure your preprinted address and bar code are showing.

Election 2020

Stay Informed, Stay In Touch

Text NJLABOR to 235246 to receive text updates about the 2020 Primary Election and General Election.

Message and data rates may apply.

Email info@njaflcio.org with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line and your name and email address in the message area to get updates by mail.

Dates You Should Know

General Election: Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Voter Registration Deadline has passed.
Vote-by-Mail Ballot Deadline: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, postmarked by 8 p.m.
   Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 10.
   Ballots without a postmark that are received by Nov. 5 are valid.
   Voters whose ballot envelopes are missing signatures or have disputed signatures will be contacted for verification.
   Vote-by-Mail Ballots can be tracked.

Vote-by-Mail Ballots:
General Election: All registered New Jersey voters will receive actual ballots in the mail, to be sent by Oct. 5, 2020.

Am I Registered?

Check your voter registration status

I Want to Vote in Person

Find your polling place and check what district you are in

Every Voter's Rights

Things to know when you get to the polls, or when you fill out your mail-in ballot

Some additional advice from the New Jersey League of Women Voters

Labor 2020

Labor 2020 Toolkit

This is the most important election in recent memory.

This is our chance to launch a major labor offensive, our chance to expand working family representation in Congress and strengthen the voice of organized labor throughout New Jersey.
Our candidates are fighting for an economy that works for all of us, not just corporations and the wealthy. They are fighting to make healthcare more affordable and to ensure equal pay for equal work.

Every vote counts. There is strength in numbers, and when we vote and encourage our families to vote, we can make a difference. If you don’t stand up for what you believe in and elect candidates who will work for you, others will — and you may not like the outcome.

Labor Walks

Labor Walks through the Central Labor Councils will be conducted when it is deemed safe for all officers, staff, volunteers, and members and their homes. All best health and safety procedures and social distancing practices will be adhered to at all times.

In 2020, Contactless Labor Walks will be used to conduct an express advocacy campaign to union households. These walks will be targeted literature drops, with no door knocking. These walks will educate swing voters who are very likely to vote on the issues and target persuadable union voters to support endorsed candidates.

Contactless Labor Walk volunteers will be dispatched exclusively with the miniVAN application on their personal phones. Through the use of this technology, the walks are efficient and measurable.

Volunteer Opportunities

Labor Candidates Program

Labor Candidates Resolution

Labor Candidate Requirements

Proposed by the Labor Candidates Sub-Committee on January 31, 2006 and approved unanimously by the New Jersey AFL-CIO Executive Board on Monday, June 12, 2006

The President and Secretary/Treasurer agreed to memorialize the Board’s action describing the standards which must be met by a union member in order to be considered a New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidate. The standards are as follows:

1. Union members seeking candidacy to elected office must notify and secure the support of their local union President/Business Manager

2. As soon as the local union is advised of a union member’s intention to seek election to public office, the local union President/Business Manager shall notify the local Central Labor Council(s) and the New Jersey State AFL-CIO about their candidacy.

3. After obtaining the support of the local union leadership, the union member seeking candidacy for elected office must be considered and reviewed by their local Central Labor Council and finally by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.

4. After a positive review by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, the union member seeking candidacy for elected office must attend and graduate from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School. However, a union member who is the incumbent office holder and is seeking re-election to said office does not, if he or she so determines, have to attend and graduate from the Labor Candidates School. This personal investment by the union member demonstrates a commitment to represent New Jersey’s working families. Additionally, the union member must commit to work on WORKER/VOTER, member education, and Get-Out-The-Vote activities.

Labor Candidates Pledge

Download Pledge

Labor Candidates School

The Labor Candidates School and Non-Partisan Training Seminars are the cornerstones of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s political program. At the Labor Candidates School, which is held every summer, election experts instruct union members about fund-raising and election law, research, message development, public speaking, media relations, voter contact, volunteer recruitment, targeting and get-out-the-vote. Participants are awarded full scholarships by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.

Details about the Candidates School for 2020 are subject to the reopening of New Jersey as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

More than 150 Labor Candidates School graduates currently hold public office. These include U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, State Senate President Steve Sweeney, State Sen. Troy Singleton, and Assemblymen Joe Egan, Wayne DeAngelo, Eric Houghtaling, Thomas Giblin, Anthony Verrelli and Paul Moriarty.

As officeholders, our graduates have championed policies that reflect the priorities of New Jersey’s working families, such as paid family leave and raising the minimum wage.

Become a Labor Candidate

Union members are Republicans and Democrats, that’s why we encourage and support union members to run through both major political parties. To learn more about the Labor Candidates Program or to enroll in the Labor Candidates School, please complete and submit the form below.

Take advantage of the many resources available to support your election campaign! When union members run, working families win!!!

No one can represent working families and their unions better than working people themselves. That’s why the New Jersey State AFL-CIO sponsors an ongoing program to recruit, train, mentor, and support union brothers and sisters running for elected office. Through the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School, union members gain the skills they need to succeed in the political arena.

Candidate Sign Up

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