Ballots are Arriving Late for Atlantic City Special Election

We have learned and confirmed that the Atlantic City Vote-by-Mail ballots are arriving very late in the process.

Atlantic City Council President George Tibbitt is very concerned about the upcoming Tuesday, May 12, special election in Atlantic City.

At stake is whether the current Mayor - Council form of government will be replaced by a new 5-member council-manager format.

Another odd twist is that this will be the first all vote-by-mail election in New Jersey history.

This is due to the coronavirus and concerns that voters and poll workers cannot safely conduct the election at the polling precincts.

By New Jersey law, the vote-by-mail ballots should have gone out in the mail to the voters 45 days before the election.

Governor Phil Murphy approved reducing this to only 25 days due to the pandemic.

Tibbitt has confirmed to me that almost no one has yet to receive their special election ballot. The election is just 12 days from tomorrow.

Tibbitt has confirmed that the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office has advised that the election ballots went out in the mail this past Monday and Tuesday, April 27-28.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez had previously ordered that all of the election ballots must be sent out no later than April 24.

The Atlantic County Clerk’s office missed this deadline.

There are approximately 23,000 voters in Atlantic City. Most have never voted by mail before.

Confusion, frustration and a learning curve are sure to be a major factor in this special election.

If a voter has not received their ballot, the last day that the Atlantic County Clerk’s office will send out a ballot in the mail is Tuesday, May 5, one week from the special election.

They have cut this very close. It’s very unfair to the voters, whether they are ultimately for or against the change in government ballot question.

To date, Craig Callaway, the most prodigious procurer of vote-by-mail ballots in New Jersey history, has achieved approximately 1,200 in advance of Election Day.

Callaway pointed out that with the May 5th Atlantic County Clerk’s deadline, “voters only have 5 days to deal with any issues if they don’t receive their ballot.”

“As Atlantic City Council President, I am very upset with The Governor’s various decisions during this entire special election season,” said Tibbitt.

“Something as important as potentially changing the entire form of the government, voters will have only 12 days or less to even receive their ballot in the mail,” said Tibbitt.

We’ll be discussing this in-depth tomorrow during the 8:00 a.m. hour of WPG’s “Hurley in the Morning” program.

We’re inviting Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, Council President Tibbitt, Craig Callaway and others to share their views on-air tomorrow morning.