Email Voting for N.J. Storm Victims Failed, Votes Not Counted Tuesday

 

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The ACLU went to court twice Tuesday on behalf of New Jersey voters, the first time to ask for an extension to the deadline to submit emailed ballots, and the second time to request that voters be allowed to use a federal absentee ballot available as a PDF online.

The state's Division of Election issued a ruling at 2 p.m. extending the deadline for voters to submit email ballots until 8 p.m. on Friday.

A judge in Essex County denied the ACLU's request to let voters use the federal absentee ballot.

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Catherine Weiss, chair of the Lowenstein Center for Public Interest, was in charge of a hotline for the voting rights group Election Protection in New Jersey on Tuesday.

"There is a big concern that people may not bother to vote if the election is called anytime before they cast their vote," Weiss told ABC News, noting that they had never seen an extension for an emergency like the one enacted in New Jersey.

"What is disenfranchising people is that the storm caused such incredible disruption in people's lives that we have people trying to vote by alternative systems all over the state," she said. "Given the amount of damage that polling places suffered, the level of disruption was so intense, it is a mistake to suggest this directive was launched without adequate preparation."