Apply for a vote-by-mail ballot (English application | Spanish application). The County Clerk must receive your completed application no less than seven days before the election by mail or by 3 p.m. the day before the election in person.

You can view the Essex County Secure Ballot Drop Box Locations here, mail in your ballot, or give it to a member of the Essex County Board of Elections at 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. Dr, Martin Luther King Justice Building Room 145 Newark, NJ 07102. You would not give your ballot to the Maplewood Clerk's Office.

The State gives you the ability to track your ballot by signing up for a "My Voter Record" account.

There are also numerous early voting sites in Essex County that are open to any registered voter in Essex County. Maplewood currently does not have a early voting location. Please visit the Essex County Board of Elections early voting page or the State Election Page for locations, dates, and hours.

To request removal of a deceased next of kin

Please provide our office with a copy of the deceased voter's death certificate. You may send a request for removal, with a legible death certificate, via email, regular mail, or expedited mail. Please make sure you make a legible written request, including your name, email address, and phone number, and attach the above-mentioned copy of the deceased voter's death certificate. 

Send all requests to: 
Office of the Superintendent of Elections/Commissioner of Registration 
495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 
Justice Building, Room 103 
Newark, New Jersey 07102 
TEL: (973) 621-5061 // EMAIL: info@elections.essexcountynj.org 

To request removal of your own voter profile for any reason: 

You may come in to our office at the above-mentioned address and request removal of your voter profile by presenting us with your last New Jersey address, and one of the following forms of identification to verify your identity: a social security card, a driver's license, non-driver's identification card from the OMV, a copy of current and valid photo identification card, current utility bill, sample ballot, bank statement, government check or pay check, any other government document that shows your name and current address. 
You may also provide us with a written request for removal via email, regular mail, or expedited mail. Written requests for removal must contain: 

1. A written request for removal, containing your:

a. date of birth,

b. last NJ address,

c. an "original" (or "wet")* signature, and

d. a copy of the front and back of one of the above pieces of identification.

2. All letters and copies of identification must be legible and clear. All pictures and signatures must be discernible.

3. We process these requests within a reasonable time of receipt of your complete and accurate written request with identification. We confirm deletion once complete. Incomplete submissions will not be processed.

*An "original" or "wet" signature is a signature fixed to a piece of paper by a writing implement, like a pen. It cannot be a picture taken with a camera/phone.

In the State of New Jersey, you can request a Mail-In Ballot (also known as a Absentee Ballot) without having to provide a reason.

Unfortunately, while you can register to vote online, requesting for the next election, or all elections, to vote by mail requires you to do a paper application as of 2024. To complete the process, you would either:

1. Use the Voter Registration Application (https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/forms-voter-registration/68-voter-registration-english-essex.pdf) and check off on box 1 that you want to vote by mail, or;

2. Use the dedicated Application For Vote By Mail Ballot (https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/forms-vote-by-mail/vote-by-mail-english-essex.pdf).

Please note, the Voter Registration Application doesn't require you to add postage, but the Application for Vote By Mail Ballot does. 

It is STRONGLY recommended, after you send in your application to create or access your "My Voter Record" account at https://voter.svrs.nj.gov/auth/sign-in.

The reason for this is, alongside being able to see if your status has changed to receive Mail-In Ballots, you can also see when the County Clerk sent out your Mail-In Ballot, when they received it back, and more. For example, you can also find other information like upcoming election dates for your district, and also your voting history. Note, it won't say who you voted for, just that you voted and where. 

New Jersey has closed primaries. In order to vote in a primary, you have to become affiliated with either the Democrats or Republicans.

Mail In Ballots

To vote by mail, you have to register as a voter for a specific political party at least 55 days before the primary election.

Voting In Person

You would walk into your assigned polling station and request either a Republican or Democratic ballot, and then vote. But, when you vote, you are registering and affiliating with a political party.

For the Democratic Primary only, the primary ballot will change from the party line system to one boxed by who is running for office. An example of the change is below.

Image from NJ.com

Military personnel & dependent may vote by Military Absentee Ballot if:

You are in the Military Service.
You are a spouse or dependent on someone in the military.
You are a patient in a VA Hospital.
You are a civilian attached to the armed services.

Please visit the State's website for further information, to register to vote, or begin the mail-in ballot application process.

You can register by mail (English Application | Spanish Application) or online on the State's website.

An application can also be obtained from the Township Clerk, Board of Elections, or Essex County Clerk.

• A United States citizen
• At least 17 years old, though you may not vote until you have reached the age of 18
• A resident of the county for 30 days before the election
• A person not serving a sentence of incarceration as the result of a conviction of any indictable offense under the laws of this or another state or of the United States.

1. At the City Clerk's Office (Township Hall, 574 Valley Street, Maplewood NJ) via Paper Application (English Application | Spanish Application)
2. At the Essex County Board of Elections (495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Dr. Martin Luther King Justice Building, Room 145, Newark, NJ 07102) via Paper Application (English Application | Spanish Application)
3. At any Motor Vehicle Office or Welfare Office via Paper Application (English Application | Spanish Application)
4. Online Through The New Jersey Division of Elections

1. You can search on the New Jersey Division of Elections Web Site.
2. The sample ballot you receive from the County Clerk's Office will tell you where to vote.
3. You may contact the City Clerk's Office who will search the State's website on your behalf.

• Voter registration in New Jersey is permanent except when a voter has moved from the County in which they are registered.
• A voter who moves within the same election district remains registered and may be allowed to vote for two years.
• If a voter moves within the County within 29 days preceding the election, they may vote at their newly designated polling place by means of a Provisional Ballot.
• To see if you are a registered voter in the State of New Jersey, check the New Jersey voter registration database.
• If a sample ballot is returned as undeliverable or indicates the voter has moved out of county/state, that voter is put into an “Inactive” status and is sent a confirmation notice informing them that they have until the second federal general election after the date of the notice to update their voting record or appear to vote and complete the necessary form or they will be removed from the voting rolls. Inactive voters do not get sample ballots and are not eligible to receive a vote by mail ballot until they are put back into an Active status.