In the midst of a once in a lifetime pandemic, it is simply not safe for New Jersey’s nearly 6 million voters to head to our polling locations on Election Day and vote in person as most of us would normally do. We wish, as much as you do, that COVID 19 wasn’t impacting our elections the way it has affected so many aspects of our lives.  But we have a responsibility to oversee elections that are free, fair, and safe for all New Jersey voters, and we must make the adjustments necessary to ensure that is the case.

In an effort to continue our proactive steps to keep New Jerseyans safe and to mitigate the health risks to voters and poll workers, New Jersey’s 21 county clerks will send all registered active voters a Vote By Mail ballot for this November’s election. We know that this isn’t the way most people are used to voting. We get it. We like showing up in person and voting on Election Day too. But this year, most of us will be voting by mail to protect the public’s health.

Our recent July 7^th Primary Election was conducted mostly using Vote By Mail. About 50% of the regular polling locations were available for  voters with disabilities needing to use a voting assistance device and voters casting provisional ballots. Our county and local  election officials, who are truly the “frontlines” of our democracy, did an incredible job. Ballot drop boxes were installed in each county, to ensure that—in the days leading up to Election Day—voters had an alternative to returning their ballot by mail.Ultimately, nearly 1.5 million voters participated in our primary, which is a turnout that is impressive even if we weren’t facing COVID-19.

We set out to conduct our Primary Election in a manner that protected our voters and election workers, while ensuring that voters could make their voices heard. Most voters, more than 85% in fact, cast Vote By Mail ballots. As we continue to stare down this pandemic, we are confident that conducting our General Election primarily using Vote By Mail is the best choice to protect our democracy and all those who participate in it. There will still be in-person voting on Election Day. Every municipality will againhave at least one polling location open on November 3^rd, available for voters with disabilities and voters casting provisional ballots. But we urge you to Vote By Mail and not wait too long to send your ballot back.

Even before the pandemic, 600,000 New Jersey voters- Democrats, Republicans, third party voters, and unaffiliated voters- were choosing to cast Vote By Mail ballots in every election. Five American states- Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington- have been conducting every election exclusively using vote by mail for years. This is a safe, secure, and convenient way to vote.

Here’s what you need to know to cast a Vote By Mail ballot for this November’s election:

By October 5, 2020, New Jersey’s County Clerks must send a Vote By Mail Ballot to all registered active voters. Once you’ve received your ballot, if you know how you are voting, there is no need to wait. Voting by mail may be new to you, but it is easy. We’ll walk you through it.

The steps are: Vote, Sign, Seal, Return.

Read the instructions on your ballot carefully, and then VOTE. Place your ballot inside the provided interior envelope, and SIGN the envelope on the signature line. Then SEAL the signed envelope inside the provided mailing envelope, and SEAL that envelope. And last but not least, RETURN your ballot. You have several choices in how to return your ballot: by mail (return postage is prepaid for all voters), in one of your county’s secure ballot dropboxes, or at your polling location by 8:00 p.m. EST on Election Day. If you choose to return your ballot by mail, please be mindful of the delivery delays experienced across the country and mail your ballot well before Election Day if you can. It’s just that simple.

But if you need assistance or have any questions, your local, county, and state election officials are here to help. You can reach out to your County Clerk, your County Board of Elections, or call the state voter protection hotline at 1-877-NJVOTER (1 877 658 6837).

By staying home and voting by mail, we can participate in our democracy while doing our part to keep our fellow voters and our election workers safe on November 3.

Phil Murphy is the Governor of New Jersey and Tahesha Way is the NJ Secretary of State.