ATLANTIC COUNTY — Atlantic County Clerk Joe Giralo says voters should not panic over the latest Supreme Court ruling involving mail-in voting, saying his office is moving ahead with preparations for the November election and expects ballots to begin going into the mail Sept. 19.
Giralo addressed the issue Wednesday on The Don Williams Show on WOND after, he said, his office received hundreds of phone calls from voters concerned about what the court ruling could mean for their ability to vote by mail.
“Our office has fielded hundreds of phone calls, and I feel that they need to know what our position here is in Atlantic County,” Giralo said.
His message was straightforward.
“This office follows state statute, and we will be processing and going forward with mail-in ballots, which will commence on September the 19th,” Giralo said. “We have worked all summer putting this together.”
“Our ballots are approved. We're ready to rock and roll,” he added. “Unless we are told otherwise, we will continue to follow state statute, and they will be in the mail.”
Giralo said he wants to reassure voters who may have interpreted the national headlines as meaning vote-by-mail could disappear before November.
“I don't want people to panic that that's not going to happen,” Giralo said. “The process is in motion.”
What did the Supreme Court actually do?
The confusion follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday allowing the Trump administration to begin implementing portions of an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March aimed at changing the handling of mail ballots in federal elections.
The order directs the Department of Homeland Security to develop lists of citizens for states, calls for investigation of election officials who provide federal ballots to ineligible voters and seeks new federal requirements governing ballot mail.
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia challenged the order, arguing the president was intruding on authority the Constitution gives states to administer elections. A federal judge had blocked portions of the order, but the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision Monday temporarily lifted that injunction while the case proceeds.
Importantly for voters, the ruling did not end vote-by-mail.
A separate court order continues to prevent the U.S. Postal Service from implementing one of the executive order's central provisions nationwide, and litigation over the administration's proposed mail-ballot requirements continues.
New Jersey's Division of Elections continues to tell voters that counties will begin mailing ballots for the Nov. 3 general election on Sept. 19, consistent with what Giralo told WOND Wednesday.
‘Our elections are safe and sound’
Giralo said his responsibility as Atlantic County clerk is to administer the election under the laws currently in effect.
“Elections, by the Constitution, Don, are run by the state,” Giralo said. “So at this time, we have to follow state statute.”
He acknowledged that mail voting, like other election procedures, can encounter problems but said attempting to dramatically change the system this close to an election would create its own difficulties.
“To try to upend all of this and do this, it doesn't make sense at this point in time,” Giralo said.
New Jersey voters have three primary options, he noted: vote by mail, early in-person voting or voting at the polls on Election Day.
And Giralo offered an unequivocal assessment of the system he oversees.
“From where I sit in Atlantic County, our elections are safe and sound,” Giralo said. “I feel that our vote-by-mail system is safe here in Atlantic County.”
He was careful to limit that statement specifically to the county.
“I'm not speaking of anywhere else,” Giralo said. “I'm speaking of here in Atlantic County.”
“We have a lot of excellent people that work on both sides of the aisle that put elections together,” he said. “And we will continue to do so.”
Giralo added: “I took an oath to the Constitution, and we will follow the Constitution and the statutes of the state of New Jersey.”
Hundreds of calls from concerned voters
Giralo said the Supreme Court decision and broader national debate have clearly created uncertainty locally.
“We get a lot of calls that people are in a panic, and I don't want people to be in a panic about their vote for November,” Giralo said.
“It's not something that they should have to worry about,” he added. “We have proceeded. We will continue to proceed.”
Giralo said Atlantic County election officials continually work to improve the system and address problems when they occur.
“Sometimes things are unfounded. Sometimes things are founded,” Giralo said of election concerns.
“We work all the time, all the election officials in this county, to make it better, to make it a foolproof system and to work in unison to provide a great, great election cycle for not only the candidates, but for the people that come out to vote.”
Giralo also raises Postal Service concerns
While defending Atlantic County's vote-by-mail system, Giralo acknowledged a different concern that has already caused problems locally: the U.S. Postal Service.
Last month, Giralo publicly called for 24 Atlantic County primary-election ballots to be counted after cure letters sent to voters were delayed by the Postal Service because of what his office described as a postage dispute.
Cure letters are sent when an otherwise timely ballot has a deficiency — such as a missing signature — that a voter may be permitted to correct.
Giralo's office said the 24 voters returned their cure letters, but the Postal Service held them, preventing them from arriving within the statutory deadline. Giralo subsequently sought to have the ballots counted.
On Wednesday, Giralo revealed that he has continued meeting with Postal Service officials.
“I've had several meetings in recent weeks with the post office,” Giralo said, “and some have been fruitful and some have not.”
Giralo said one frustration is receiving inconsistent information.
“As we continue to ask questions of the election offices, at times it's disappointing, Don,” Giralo said. “We get different answers at different times.”
Giralo's advice: Don't wait
Giralo said anyone in New Jersey can apply to vote by mail; voters do not need to be disabled, traveling or provide another excuse.
“This is not an all-mail-in election,” Giralo said. “You have to file for one.”
Applications can be submitted through the county clerk, and New Jersey also provides online options.
Atlantic County voters who receive mail ballots don't necessarily have to return them through the Postal Service. Giralo said the county has 20 secure ballot drop boxes available.
His strongest advice is not to procrastinate.
“If you're going to do a mail-in ballot, vote your ballot when you get it,” Giralo said.
“Don't wait till Election Day to put it in the mailbox,” he said.
If Election Day is approaching, Giralo recommended using a ballot drop box rather than taking the chance that a mailed ballot encounters a problem.
“If you're going to use your mail-in ballot, which we would hope you would, either use the drop box if you're real close to election,” Giralo said, “but be careful in mailing it back.”
New Jersey voters can also use the state's online ballot-tracking system to determine whether their completed mail ballot has been received. New Jersey Vote-By-Mail information and ballot tracking
For Giralo, the immediate priority is making sure Atlantic County voters understand that despite the court battle unfolding nationally, the county's November election preparations have not stopped.
“We have proceeded,” Giralo said. “We will continue to proceed.”
And come Sept. 19, unless the law changes again, Atlantic County's vote-by-mail ballots will be on their way.
About the Author
Scott Stephens
Scott has been an on-air personality, producer and newscaster for 30+ years. He has been a mainstay in the South Jersey Community and on the air across many different area stations. Scott can currently be heard on Kool 98.3 and News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
