Camden County Election Commission staff assisted voters who took advantage of the opportunity to vote early for the general election at the Camden County Election and Archives Center in Blackwood, New Jersey on Saturday, October 23, 2021. Dave Hernandez | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

For more than a century, registered voters in New Jersey have voted by mail or in person on election day. This year, for the first time, voters in New Jersey can vote in person on a voting machine before Election Day.

With regard to this new voting option, election officials want you to remember the following five things.

Each county will designate at least 3 to 10 voting locations according to its size to vote in person in advance. Registered voters can make local ballots anywhere in the county where they live.

"No matter which county you appear in, you can vote locally. This will be very similar, except that you won't go to a nearby polling station, which is very similar to what you will encounter during an election one day," the communications director of the Election Division Alicia Dale Sandro said.

Voting location information is provided by each county and can be found on the New Jersey Department of Elections website or through a searchable list created by NJ Advance Media. The list of voting locations can also be found on the website of each county, with the link below.

Atlantic| Bergen| Burlington| Camden| Cape May| Cumberland| Essex| Gloucester| Hudson| Hunterton| Mercer| Middlesex| Monmouth | Morris | Ocean | Pasek | Salem | Somerset | Sussex | League | Warren

Early voting will last until October 31, which means you have one week left to enter the polling station and vote. If you know that your local polling station usually has a route on election day, it may be worthwhile to consider early voting. Voting will be open from at least 10 am to 8 pm from Monday to Saturday and at least from 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday.

"Early voting really attracts those who may work 15-hour shifts on election day, or they are health care workers, and they cannot leave to vote, and they have not voted by mail. These are our hopes, hope these people Can vote at any time during the 9-day period between 10 am and 8 am and 10 am and 6 am on Sunday," said Hunterdon County Commissioner Beth Thompson. election.

Ocean County Clerk Scott Collabella said: "Time alone makes things more convenient. So many people work, right? If the polls are open until 8pm, then they can be at 5.30pm or 6pm. Click to use this window after get off work."

Governor Phil Murphy signed an e-voting form when voting at the Long Branch Arts and Cultural Center on Saturday, October 23, 2021. John Jones | For NJ Advance Media

This year, every county will have electronic voting desks to replace paper ballot books-they will also stay on election day. You don’t need to go around the room to find a registration form that suits your designated area—the new voting device has a centralized database that allows voting staff to register any registered voter in the county. The voting machines in each county will also be electronic in some way. Although this may sound scary to technology-averse people, board staff will be on-site to guide the voter experience.

Beth McGuckin, director of the Ocean County Election Commission, can understand some hesitation. She has voted by mail for more than a decade, but this year plans to try a new early voting system.

"Actually, I am looking forward to voting on new equipment. This will be the first time I have voted on a machine in 17 years," McGuckin said.

Need to quickly understand how it works? Check out this early voting guide with photos.

One of several early voting locations in the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library. Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Patti Sapone | New Jersey Advanced Media

With the introduction of early voting, new devices designed to protect elections from voter fraud have been introduced. This will be the first time voters will register using electronic voting books instead of paper ones. Officials said the new technology will update the state voter database in real time and prevent someone from voting in multiple locations or on different dates.

"If there is a problem with the signature or someone's registration, we will be able to see it immediately," said Michael Howard, a board staff member of Ocean County.

The new electronic voting machine required for early voting also has its own protection measures. When voting, the machine will prevent one person from voting for too many candidates for any office. The machine also needs to be connected to an automatic ballot printer to create a paper record so that election officials can audit the results.

Voting worker Mike Howard sits in an early voting training course at the Ocean County Library of the Toms River Branch. Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Patti Sapone | New Jersey Advanced Media

If you have already registered to vote by mail in the 2021 general election and have just heard of early voting, it is not too late-you can still appear on the early voting site. You just won't use these machines.

Although the deadline for opting out of mail voting with your county clerk is August 31, if you have received your vote through mail voting but have not yet voted, you can still vote through paper temporary voting at the advance voting location. If your mailed ballot is damaged or never delivered, the same principle applies.

"It happened. The ballot was lost in the mail, it was torn up, and something was spilled on it. In that case, we can't let them vote on the machine, but they can vote in advance and vote here, but there is no way to control it. Into a table," McGregor said.

According to the State Department of Elections, provisional ballots are voted by voters who are unable to confirm their eligibility to vote on election day or who have applied for voting through mail voting. If it is determined after the election that voters who cast provisional ballots are eligible to vote, that ballot will be counted.

You can directly query 1-877-NJ-VOTER (1-877-658-6837) or visit the New Jersey Voter Information Portal for more detailed information.

Questions about voting? You can submit tips to NJ.com here.

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You can contact Jackie Roman at jroman@njadvancemedia.com or Twitter @JacqueRoman.

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