New Jersey Voting Rights

A printed document titled 'New Jersey Voters' Bill of Rights' with information about voting procedures, requirements, and links for mail-in ballots, provisional voting, and election offenses.

If you are a U.S. Citizen, have lived in New Jersey for 30 days prior to the Election, are 18 years of age, are currently experiencing homelessness, or if you are on parole or probation, you have the right to vote.

  • No. Unless you are a new voter, and did not include your Driver’s License number, Government issued ID, or the last four of your social security number. You will have to provide one of the following when you vote:
    ~ New Jersey driver’s license
    ~ Military or other government ID
    ~ Student ID
    ~ U.S. Passport
    ~ A current document with your name and address on it (e.g., a bank statement, paycheck, sample ballot, utility bill, government check, car registration, non-photo driver’s license, or any other official document.

    Bring your Sample Ballot with you for scanning!

  • If you are not currently in prison for a felony (“indictable offense”) conviction, if you are on parole or probation or awaiting trial.
    We recommend checking your voter’s registration first. It’s possible you are still registered. If you have any questions, call your County Board of Elections for assistance.

  • According to the ACLU of NJ “If you’re serving time for a misdemeanor or civil matter you can still vote. You have the right to register and to vote from jail using a mail-in ballot. If you lost your voting rights for a felony conviction, your right to vote is restored once you complete your sentence. You must re-register to vote, even if you were registered before your conviction.”
    We recommend checking your voter’s registration first. It’s possible you are still registered. If you have any questions, call your County Board of Elections for assistance.

  • Ask for a provisional ballot. It's important to know about provisional or emergency ballots, and how they work. No system is perfect, and if for some reason you are told you can't vote in the voting booth, you can still vote by completing a provisional or emergency ballot. Here are instances where you will need to vote using a provisional ballot. If your poll worker doesn’t offer a provisional ballot, ASK FOR IT!

    Here’s what might have happened:

    • Your name is not on the poll list of voters, but you have registered.

    • You moved within the county, but have not registered at your new address, or voted at your previous address.

    • You're a first-time voter and you did not provide accepted ID when you registered (ex. by mail), and did not bring it on Election Day.

    • If you were marked "ID required" at your polling place, but were unable to show ID, you can vote by provisional ballot. But for your vote to count, you must bring acceptable ID to the appropriate county office within 48 hours. Poll workers must give you a form that tells you the address to where you must show your ID.

    • You requested a mail-in ballot but didn’t receive it in time, or you are marked as being an absentee voter, but decided to go to the polls to vote in person.

  • Your Sample Ballot has a bar code that poll workers can scan, giving them a lot of important information about you.

  • You can ask a family member, a friend, the poll workers, or anyone you choose to help you vote, except for your employer or union rep.
    You can also ask someone for help with the voting machine.
    You can vote orally with someone’s assistance.

  • ACLU’s easy to follow Voting Rights for New Jersey.