What happens after you mail in, or drop off, your ballot?

The congressional campaign of Republican Rosemary Becchi wants to know. The campaign has sent letters to the boards of election in the four counties that make up the 11th District – Essex, Morris, Passaic and Sussex – asking precisely that.

The queries come as some Republicans are holding rallies to denounce mail-in voting. President Trump, who has fueled the unease, continued to do so during Tuesday’s debate.

So, there is definitely some partisan politics here.

At the same time, the questions raised by the Becchi campaign are quite reasonable.

Here they are:

1. On what dates and times of day are you doing counting of the ballots? We understand that counting will begin long before Election Day.
2. Where is the counting of the ballots taking place? Given the large volume of mail-in ballots, what other locations besides the Board of Elections are being used?
3. How long in advance of the counting do we need to have our observers credentialed? Are there any special procedures for credentialing for this election?
4. Where are the ballot drop-off boxes located?
5. What security is being used to protect the drop-off boxes and the ballots placed in them? Are they going to be continuously monitored by camera or by observers?
6. What is the procedure for collecting ballots from drop-off boxes and transporting them to the Board of Elections? Can we observe the drop-off box being opened, and if so, do our observers have to be credentialed? How often are the boxes getting emptied? Is anyone making sure a filled drop-off box is promptly attended to?
7. How are boxes of ballots that arrive at counting sites from the drop-off boxes or Post Office being stored and secured?
8. What happens when a ballot is rejected for a faulty signature? Please describe the procedures that will be followed.
9. What happens when a ballot that is sent out to a registered voter is returned as undeliverable because the voter is no longer at that address? Are these returned ballots being secured, and if so, how? Are the poll records being marked to reflect that that voter’s ballot was returned as undeliverable?
10. What happens when voters bring their mail-in ballots to a polling place on Election Day? What is the procedure for handling those ballots? Where are they placed and how are they counted?
11. What safeguards are being put in place to prevent a leak of the interim vote count while the ballots are being counted? Will only a limited group of people have access to the interim vote totals, and if so, who are they?
12. We have been getting reports that some voters have been receiving more than one ballot in the mail. What safeguards are being put in place and what procedures are going to be followed to make sure the extra ballots are not getting misused and counted?