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The 2012 E-Mail Voting Disaster in Morris County

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For those of you who are unaware, one of the accommodations made for displaced voters in Morris County during yesterday’s election included the ability to vote via e-mail. Well, as a registered voter in Morris County who spends approximately one to two days each month in my hometown, I thought that the opportunity to vote via e-mail was the best thing since sliced bread! Oh, how wrong I was…

Here is a look at the interaction (or lack thereof) that I had with the Morris County Clerk’s office. First, the information that they posted on their website:

EMAIL APPLICATIONS TO ASMITH@CO.MORRIS.NJ.US OR FAX APPLICATIONS WITH EMAIL ADDRESS TO 973-285-5233

BALLOTS WILL BE SENT TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

RETURN BALLOT TO BALLOTSUBMISSION@CO.MORRIS.NJ.US OR FAX TO 973-984-8412

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HURRICAN SANDY DISPLACEMENT VOTER njelection.org

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 5PM NOV.6TH 2012.(EMIAL/FAX)
THE VOTERS MUST TRANSMIT THE SIGNED WAIVER OF SECRECY ALONG WITH THE VOTED BALLOT BY FAX OR EMAIL FOR RECEIPT BY BOARD OF ELECTION NO LATER THAN NOV.9,2012 AT 8P.M.

Okay. Easy enough, right? According to the information above, all I have to do is send a copy of the application (which was readily available on the county website) after I filled it out. Which I did as you’ll see below. This is the e-mail I sent to the Morris County Clerk’s office at 7:57pm on Monday, November 5th:

Subject: Application for E-Mail Voting – Borough of Mount Arlington

Good evening,

Attached to this message please find my application to vote in tomorrow’s election via e-mail. You may reach me at this e-mail address or on my cell phone if you have any questions. I look forward to receiving my ballot via e-mail and voting in tomorrow’s election.

Best regards,
Joe

I sat there and I waited – patiently – for a response from the County Clerk. Frankly, I just wanted my ballot sent to me via e-mail – I didn’t need any discussion! I figured that the ballot would be sent my way at some point the following morning. Well, the next morning came and went and I kept on waiting. It was 12:00pm on Election Day – I heard nothing from them. It was 1:00pm on Election Day – I heard nothing. And then, right before 2:00pm (it was 1:52pm to be exact), I couldn’t take it any more. I sent the following e-mail to the County Clerk’s office:

Hello,

I e-mailed my application to vote by e-mail ballot last night at approximately 8:00pm. I have not heard back from anyone at the clerk’s office, so I am going to my polling place in Mount Arlington instead. As such, I withdraw my application to vote by e-mail for this election.

This system is obviously not ready for use by the public. You should not have made it available for this election, regardless of the demands coming from Trenton.

Good luck,
Joe

A few minutes after I sent this message I got in my car, drove to Mount Arlington, voted (in less than 3 minutes), and then went to my family’s place to hang out for a bit. And in case you were wondering whether or not the Morris County Clerk ever got in touch with me to explain what was going on… no, they didn’t get in touch with me. On Twitter, they noted that they received thousands of requests for these e-mail ballots. By the utter lack of communication that I received from them, I would imagine that they didn’t really have that many people confirming the applications that were received and then sending out those specific ballots. I stick by my comment in my second e-mail: this process was not ready for prime time and should not have been made available to the public as a viable voting option.

Think about this – if every person’s vote counts, then those “thousands” of people who request an e-mail ballot probably don’t have their votes counted yet. And they certainly didn’t have their votes counted last night. In fact, the MorrisElectionResults.org website shows that zero of those ballots have been as of 11:23pm last night.

In other words, if you voted by e-mail ballot, absentee ballot, or provisional ballot and you’re a Morris County voter… then your vote didn’t count this year. Oh sure, eventually your vote will be counted and added to the totals, but at that point the concessions have been made and the majority of the elections are over and no longer waiting for your vote to count. Imagine if those thousands of e-mail ballots, absentee ballots, and provisional ballots all voted for the same candidates in one of the countywide, statewide, or national elections. Those accumulated votes might not have been enough to sway an election, but it might be enough to suggest that a victory which was reported (for example) as 65% for one candidate and 35% for the other candidate was actually 55% for one candidate and 45% for the other. That change in total votes is a big, big deal and directly impacts the post-election discussion!

And here’s the thing – I like the Morris County Clerk’s office. I think that they’re probably the most efficient clerk’s office in the state (I deal with several of county clerk offices and the team in Morris County is really among the best, if not the best in the state). But I don’t like that they made the e-mail option available for yesterday’s election. I know that it was somewhat pushed on them by Trenton, but it wasn’t ready for wide use by the public and that gives an otherwise great clerk’s office an unfortunate, temporary black eye.

Pictures from Before and After Hurricane Irene in New Jersey

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Well, folks. That’s all she wrote! Hurricane Irene has come and gone and, frankly, I wasn’t all that impressed. Of course, we didn’t get hit too hard in Tinton Falls, but I understand that other parts of New Jersey are flooded. Anyway, the pictures below are from yesterday during the mid-morning/afternoon. The first 8 pictures are a view from the Boardwalk in Asbury Park as the hurricane swells started hitting the beach. The second 15 pictures are from Ocean Avenue and Pier Village in Long Branch. There are 2 additional pictures at the bottom of this entry, so be sure to scroll down all of the way!

And the two pictures below were sent in by my Mom up in the Lake Rogerene section of Mount Arlington. As you can see, one of the big trees in front of the lake was uprooted and portions of Orben Drive are totally under water.

I’ve Lived “Down the Shore” Longer Than Anywhere Else – Ever

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Last month (May 2011) marked a pretty interesting milestone in my life. I’m not sure if it’s anything that would be termed as “major,” but as of the end of the first week of May 2011, I’ve lived down the Jersey Shore longer than anywhere else I’ve ever lived in my life. It’s a pretty interesting milestone, I guess, if for no other reason than it gave me a chance to reflect on where I’ve lived and for how long.

The sunrise as viewed from Long Branch's Pier Village. Absolutely beautiful.

From 1981 – 1988, I lived on the upper east side of Manhattan. That’s where my family lived when I was born and that’s where we stayed until my younger brother was born in December 1987, when my parents decided that it was time to move to our summer house in New Jersey because there was more room for my brothers and I to grow up and be kids. So from 1988 – 1999, I lived in Roxbury Township up in Morris County and I really don’t have anything bad to say about it. Although, I should preface that statement by saying that I don’t really remember a whole lot from those early years up there, but I do remember a lot about the mid and late 1990’s when I was in Junior High School and High School – and I really had a good time.

Then in the Fall of 1999, I moved down to West Long Branch to attend Monmouth University and – except for the summer in between my Freshman and Sophomore years of college – I’ve been living down the shore ever since. It’s not so bad down here and I don’t really have any major complaints other than that the hour and a half drive back to Roxbury is a bit of a pain sometimes just like my hour drive to and from work each day in Trenton is a bit annoying, too.

Would I move away from the shore? Sure. I’m not sure where, though. I’d be happy going back north to live in the Roxbury Township/Morris County area. I’d also be able to survive in the New Brunswick area once my company moves there in the fall (essentially eliminating my commute). But I do have a lot of friends down the shore and I also built up some business relationships that I’d have to release – causing me to lose money. Obviously, if I moved away from the shore I wouldn’t be as eager to be an adjunct professor at the local college down here (especially given the meager amount that adjuncts earn). So that would be a small drop in income. At the same time, I’d elect to cut off some of my remaining business relationships with my small web design firm. Also a very small loss of income.

And then I’d miss out on doing some of the things that I like to do down the shore. I’m not as big a fan of going to the beach as some of the folks who live down here, but I do like going there every once in a while. Also, I like going to the Monmouth Hawks basketball games – I don’t think that I would attend the games if I had to drive a long time to get there.

But I’m not looking to go anywhere right now. In fact, I just renewed my lease for another year. It’s nice down the shore and I’m happy. Hey, do you think I can call myself a “local” now? 🙂

School Budget Defeated in Mount Arlington, New Jersey

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One of my hometown newspapers – the Roxbury Register – posted an article that talked about how the local town councils were approaching the defeated school budget reconciliation process. Below is the text of the article that deals directly with my hometown, Mount Arlington.

Mount Arlington Mayor Arthur Ondish also confessed to being a bit surprised with the defeat.

Looking at the Mt. Arlington Results

“The increase was modest, but I think that what happened is that people were unwilling to accept a budget in which the teachers did not accept a wage freeze, at least for a year,” Ondish said Thursday.

“I think a lot of people are looking at change. People wanted to see teachers take a wage freeze, like they did in some districts,” he said.

Ondish said teachers’ claims that the spending is “for the children” is off base. “I think a lot of people thought the teachers should be a part of the solution to the problem by accepting the wage freeze. In my opinion, we should cut the budget in the exact amount that the wage freeze would have saved,” he said.

“People want to see change, and this is what Governor Christie recommended. He is an agent of change, and I think that is what we need right now,” he said.

“I support our school board. I think they did a commendable job on this budget. It was a good budget, but the teachers did not take the wage freeze,” he said.

Despite that, Ondish said he expects the school board and the Borough Council will work through the process amicably.

Mayor Ondish is correct that people want change and that’s why they voted for Governor Christie. As far as Ondish’s approach to cutting the school budget – “we should cut the budget in the exact amount that the wage freeze would have saved” – I think the Mayor is right on track. For any employee to get a raise of any amount is crazy when inflation was negative over the last twelve months and the private and nonprofit sectors are laying off people left and right. I like the Mount Arlington Public School District (of which I am a product), but the miserable economy has dictated a different course for this budget and I’m looking forward to seeing what Mayor Ondish and his team put together.

Help Jakey – Blood Drive This Friday, March 5th

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For those of you who can, please schedule some time to help a young boy in Mount Arlington who is suffering from A. L. Leukemia. There will be a blood drive taking place this Friday at The Hilton Parsippany located at One Hilton Court, Parsippany, Morris County, New Jersey. To schedule an appointment please call 1-800-247-9580. The blood drive will be held from 8:00am through 4:00pm.

Click Here to Download the Flier

Hey folks – if we can’t help each other out during our times of need, then who can we count on for help? If you are in the area and can spare the time and the blood (and I’m sure that many of you can spare both!), please make some time to attend the blood drive.