NJ Ballot Tracker Design Causing Anxiety Among Some Voters

WNYC News | Oct 8, 2020

New Jersey voters nervous about whether their mail-in ballot for this year's election has been delivered, can track it through the state Division of Elections website. But the online widget might be causing more election-induced anxiety instead.

To track their ballot, voters enter their name, date of birth and choose between providing one of three ID numbers: the last four digits of their Social Security number, their drivers license ID, or their voter registration. The problem is if they don’t choose the form of ID they used when they registered to vote, they'll receive an error message. 

And there's another problem. Mike Agranoff of Boonton Township entered his birthday incorrectly.

"It was not in the format they expected and I got this error message: 'you don’t exist,'" said Agranoff.

After several calls to county and state elections offices, he found help at the New Jersey Secretary of State’s office. Not only was he able to see that he's registered, but he can now see that ballot arrived safely at the Morris County Board of Elections.

The deadline to register to vote in New Jersey is Oct. 13th.


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