Atlantic County Clerk Says Election Mail From 2020 Is Still Showing Up Six Years Later

MAYS LANDING — Atlantic County Clerk Joe Giralo says election-related mail from years-old elections is still showing up at his office — including one piece connected to the 2020 election that was returned more than six years later.

Giralo raised the issue during an appearance on Off The Press with Scott Cronick on WOND while discussing his concerns about relying on the U.S. Postal Service for time-sensitive election mail.

“Last week I got back a person that had requested a vote-by-mail ballot — an application which was mailed out in the election of 2020,” Giralo said. “It just was returned to our office through the post.”

Giralo said he has repeatedly asked postal officials how a piece of election mail could remain somewhere in the system for that length of time.

“Can somebody explain to me where this piece of mail has been for over six years?” he said.

Giralo stressed that he is not talking about thousands of uncounted ballots suddenly surfacing.

He said the clerk’s office occasionally receives old election-related mail, including material from the 2024 and 2025 elections, long after the election for which it was intended.

“We are still receiving vote by mail that were mailed out in the 2024 and 2025 election that are being returned to the clerk’s office today,” Giralo said.

“They're not thousands of ballots,” he added. “There are a few here and there. But the real question is, how do you want me to trust something that I get back six years later?”

The distinction is important. Giralo specifically described the 2020 item as a vote-by-mail application, not a completed ballot.

Atlantic County already had a USPS election-mail dispute this year

Giralo’s latest criticism comes just weeks after a separate election-mail controversy involving Atlantic County and the Postal Service.

In July, Giralo publicly called for 24 ballots from the 2026 primary to be counted after cure forms associated with those ballots were delayed in the mail because of what the clerk’s office described as an alleged postage dispute.

A cure form allows a voter to correct certain problems with a mail ballot, such as a missing signature.

Giralo said at the time the 24 voters had returned their cure paperwork on time, but the forms were held up by USPS and did not reach election officials by the statutory deadline. The Atlantic County Board of Elections ultimately counted the 24 ballots July 14, and Giralo filed amended primary election results.

That episode appears to have contributed to Giralo’s skepticism about postal delivery.

“I've had enough of my run-ins with the post office over five years,” Giralo told Cronick.

USPS says voters should mail ballots early

The Postal Service, for its part, says voters can rely on the mail for elections and that it has special procedures for handling ballot mail.

USPS says completed ballots are treated as First-Class Mail and that the agency is committed to expedited processing of election mail. Its 2026 election-mail guidance says voters who choose to return a ballot through the mail should do so before Election Day and, as a general recommendation, at least one week before the applicable receipt deadline.

A 2024 audit by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General found that USPS significantly exceeded its service-performance goals for election mail overall and did not identify widespread delays at delivery units, though auditors said improvements were needed in tracking and compliance with certain election-mail procedures.

That broader performance, however, does not explain the individual late pieces Giralo says his office has received.

Giralo warns voters to pay attention

Giralo also recounted another recent example.

He said a woman contacted his office after receiving a vote-by-mail ballot in December that had been postmarked in September.

And during this year's primary election, he said a Buena Vista Township voter requested a mail ballot on the final day the clerk legally could send one — but the voter did not receive it until the Wednesday after the election.

“Beware of it,” Giralo told listeners.

For the Nov. 3 general election, New Jersey says county clerks will begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots Sept. 19. Voters may return their ballot through the mail, use an authorized secure drop box or deliver it directly to their county Board of Elections. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the county Board of Elections by Nov. 9.

Giralo said his office is currently preparing about 20,500 vote-by-mail ballots for Atlantic County voters.

He urged anyone expecting a mail ballot who doesn't receive it by Oct. 8 to contact the Atlantic County Clerk's Office.

“If you do not or have not received your vote-by-mail ballot by October the 8th, by all means call me at the clerk's office,” Giralo said.

He said the office can determine what happened and, where appropriate, issue a duplicate ballot after the voter completes an affidavit affirming that the original ballot was not voted.

The Atlantic County Clerk's Office lists its main election office at 5901 Main St. in Mays Landing and provides vote-by-mail applications and duplicate-ballot forms on its website.

Giralo said voters who don't trust mail delivery have alternatives.

“I would absolutely, if I voted by mail, put it in a drop box,” he said.