Page 4 • Wednesday , October 6 , 2021 • The Hammonton Gazette
Early voting will be held at Family Success Center , 310 Bellevue Ave .
ELECTION , from Page 1 “ It allows for voters , at their convenience , to report to one of six early voting centers scattered throughout the county , where their ballot can be pulled up on a new voting machine , featuring advanced technology insofar as a paper trail ,” Bugdon said .
To facilitate the process , the state will be utilizing the ExpressVote XL and the ExpressVote printer .
“ It ’ s like a giant iPad , if you will , or a giant tablet that pulls up your specific ballot , allows you to vote it , prints a confirmation slip of your vote that you ’ re able to review , confirm is exactly how you want to vote , and then you vote the ballot . It drops that slip into a bin , so that audits and recounts can be conducted , if necessary , at a later time , verifying the integrity of the election ,” Bugdon said .
Bugdon said that there will be six early voting locations throughout Atlantic County , including at the Hammonton Family Success Center , located at 310 Bellevue Avenue . However , during early voting , county residents can vote at any of the six .
“ You can vote anywhere in the county . If you live in Hammonton but you work in Atlantic City , you can go to the Atlantic City early voting site and your ballot will get pulled up on that touchscreen machine ,” Bugdon said . Bugdon described the process for early voting .
“ You ’ d go there , and you ’ d say , I ’ m Joe Smith . I live in Hammonton . They may ask your address ; you ’ d give it . They would pull you up . A card goes into a printer next to the poll book . It spits out a little barcode at the top that indicates the appropriate ballot . That card is then fed into the voting machine ,”
Bugdon said .
That card then becomes the voter ’ s confirmation , representing a paper trail .
“ You go in and put that card in , and your ballot will appear in front of you on the screen . You ’ ll vote it on the screen — with a stylus or a straw , or a gloved finger ; we ’ re making sure that COVID safeguards are also in place — and then you ’ ll review it as it prints it . You ’ ll cast your vote , and there you go ,” Bugdon said .
Additionally , Bugdon said that , this year , all voters will be checking in on the ExpressPoll , an electronic poll book .
“ While the new voting machines are exclusive to early voting , the electronic poll books will be in place during early voting and during all future general and primary elections in the state of New Jersey . The paper variety that voters are used to will become a thing of the past ,” Bugdon said .
Bugdon said that the ExpressPoll reduces poll worker error as well as miscommunication between poll workers and voters .
“ Sometimes more-difficult-tospell names can be challenging , where a senior and junior can be mixed up more easily . The electronic poll book helps in that respect . It also makes compiling voter history much easier . In and of itself , it ’ s a computer . All of the information about you , as a voter — and what elections you ’ ve participated in — is normally pulled from your mail-in ballot history , or , when you ’ re voting in person , from a poll book . That ’ s automatic now . There ’ s not a person who ’ s now transcribing it ; it automatically promulgates that , and sends that back to election offices following the close of polls ,” Bugdon said .
Thus far , expenses have been incurred at the state level , not the county level .
“ All counties in New Jersey are being reimbursed for the expenses of early voting , so Atlantic County will be reimbursed for the purchase of the machines — as well as the electronic poll books — and many other things involved in early voting ,” Bugdon said . However , replacing all voting
See VOTING , Page 16