The original item was published from February 22, 2021 4:23 PM to February 22, 2021 7:10 PM
On Friday, February 19, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 223, which outlines the procedures for counties and municipalities on the 2021 April school and fire district elections. Counties and municipalities are mandated to adhere to following requirements:
County and Municipal Election Requirements
- Elections held on April 20, 2021 shall be conducted as required by law and all applicable Executive Orders, except as otherwise provided in this Order.
- In any municipality in which a school election and special municipal election will occur simultaneously on April 20, 2021, the rules, and provisions applicable to the municipal election governing hours and polling places shall control and apply to the school election.
- In any county in which a school election and fire district election will occur simultaneously on April 20, 2021 for a school district and fire district with overlapping boundaries:
- Where the school district encompasses only one fire district, the county clerk shall prepare one ballot including all candidates and questions for both the school election and the fire district election.
- Where the school district encompasses more than one fire district, the board of elections shall designate the polling places pursuant to the fire district boundary lines, and the county clerk shall prepare the ballots based upon the fire district boundary lines, which ballots shall reflect the candidates and questions for the school election and the fire district election with respect to each fire district.
- The conduct of the fire district election on April 20, 2021 shall be in accordance with all applicable provisions of chapter 14 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes, except that where such provisions conflict with the provisions of law governing the conduct of school elections, the provisions governing the conduct of school elections shall control; and
- The polling places for such elections shall be open between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., except that the polling places may be opened as early as 6:00 a.m. on the day of those elections, as determined by the board of education.
4. Any provision of law or Executive Order that is inconsistent with this Order is hereby suspended.
5. No municipality, county, or any other agency or political subdivision of this State shall enact or enforce any order, rule, regulation, ordinance, or resolution that will or might in any way conflict with any of the provisions of this Order, or that will or might in any way interfere with or impede its achievement.
Executive Order No. 223 shall take effect immediately.
Contact: Andrew LaFevre, Legislative Analyst, alafevre@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 ext. 116