Mail-in voting and early voting are scheduled in New Jersey before Election Day. Photo by Jesse Paul via Unsplash.

How to register and vote in the 2026 general election

By Zo Terrana
NJ State House News Service

TRENTON, N.J. – Mail-in ballots for the November general election are already hitting letter boxes, with the Nov. 3 Election Day just over six weeks away. Important deadlines to register and vote are around the corner. New Jerseyans can check if they are registered here. 

Register to vote

New Jersey residents can register online and will need a valid state driver’s license or a non-driver identification card issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and their date of birth and Social Security number.

Citizens can also download a paper application, fill it out and send it to the Commissioner of Registration or Superintendent of Elections for your county.

New Jersey residents have until Oct. 13 to register.

Vote by mail

Oct. 27 is the deadline to apply online for a mail-in ballot. In-person mail-in ballot applications are made to the county clerk. If you would like to receive your ballot by mail you must request your ballot not less than 7 days before an election. 

To return by mail, ballots must be postmarked on or before 8 p.m. Election Day and be received by your county’s Board of Elections on or before six days after Election Day.

Voters also may return ballots to the Board of Elections or deposit it in one of your county’s secure authorized ballot drop boxes until 8 p.m. on Election.

Mail-in ballots cannot be returned to in-person early voting poll locations or Election Day polling locations.

Mail-in ballots can be tracked online.

Early in-person voting

Designated in-person early voting locations will be open from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m-8 p.m and Sundays 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. In-person early voting locations vary by county.

Nov. 3 Election Day 

In-person voting locations are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Military and overseas voting

Military members, their spouses and overseas voters must send back the completed ballot to the appropriate county board of election. If you mail your ballot it must be postmarked on or before Election Day. If you fax or email your ballot it must be received by 8 p.m. Nov. 3.

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Zo Terrana is a senior journalism major at The College of New Jersey.