The Clerk’s Office is experiencing delays in the recording of its land documents — which now may take as much as 6-8 weeks from the time of receipt.
Please know that Clerk staff are working hard to meet demand. We ask your patience during these trying times.
Sussex County Clerk Offices Closed January 1, 2021, New Year’s Day
Sussex County Clerk Offices Closed December 24 and December 25, 2020, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The Sussex County Clerk’s office will be closed December 17 due to inclement weather.
Sussex County Clerk Offices Closed Friday, December 11, 2020 from 12:30-2 p.m.
The ballot boxes will be monitored (security camera surveillance) and will have daily pickups by the County Board of Elections.
County Clerk Jeff Parrott announced that his office will be open extended hours on Saturday, July 4th from 9 a.m. to noon to accommodate in-person voting. The Board of Elections will be in to receive voted ballots during those hours as well.
While it’s too late for the Clerk’s Office to mail ballots to voters after June 30th, anyone who did not already receive a mail-in ballot or who won’t be able to make it to the polls on Election Day can still apply for a ballot in person at the Clerk’s Office during regular office hours up through July 7th.
Voters applying in person need to wear a mask and must maintain social distancing once they arrive.
The County Clerk’s Office is located on the main floor of the Cochran House Building at 83 Spring Street in Newton, Suite 304, accessible from either Spring Street (front entrance) or Trinity Street (rear entrance). More information about voting can be obtained by calling 973-579-0900 or by visiting the Clerk’s Website at www.sussexcountyclerk.org.
Sussex County Clerk Jeff Parrott announced on Thursday that Vote-By-Mail (VBM) ballots for this year’s Primary Elections are being mailed this week to all registered Democrats and Republicans in compliance with Governor Murphy’s Executive Order #144. Voters who register after the initial mailing but before June 17 will also be mailed a ballot. Also under EO#144, Unaffiliated voters will be mailed a special Vote-By-Mail application for one-time use in this election; the application requires the voter to declare a party in order to be mailed a ballot. The applications will be mailed out beginning June 12. Unaffiliated voters need to complete and return this special EO#144 Application even if they already applied for a mail-in ballot using the standard application.
Voters who regularly vote by mail will notice that their Mail-In Ballot has a new look. “The ballot materials were redesigned to help simplify voting by mail,” said Parrott. “The voter has less to fill out and instructions are clear and easy to follow.”
When voters receive the VBM ballot, they should read the instructions provided and then vote their ballot using blue or black ink, and submit it right away in one of the following ways:
Polling places for this year’s Primary elections are limited, so voters may be assigned a new polling place for July 7. There will be no sample ballots mailed this year. Instead of sample ballots, voters will receive a postcard in the mail from the County Clerk with the location of their designated polling location should they choose to go to the polls and vote via provisional paper ballot. The postcards will be mailed the week after the close of voter registration, which is June 16th.
The list of available polling locations in Sussex County is posted to the County Clerk’s website at www.sussexcountyclerk.org/elections.
Voters who go to a polling location on July 7 will vote a provisional paper ballot. Voters with disabilities should call the County Clerk’s Office for an accessible ballot, or may choose to vote an audio ballot on an ADA-accessible voting machine at their assigned polling location.
Election-related deadlines are as follows:
Voters who have questions about voting by mail in the July 7, 2020 primary elections are encouraged to call the County Clerk’s Office at 973-579-0900. Voters with questions about party affiliation, voter registration status, polling place assignment or drop box locations should contact the County Board of Elections at 973-579-0950.
Unaffiliated registered voters in New Jersey are all going to receive an Application To Vote By Mail from their County Clerk.
The application mailed by your County Clerk was designed by the NJ Division of Elections under Executive Order #144 and is specific to the July 7, 2020 Primary Elections. If you are an unaffiliated voter and you want to vote by mail in the July 7 Primary, you need to complete and return this EO#144 application as soon as possible — EVEN IF YOU ALREADY submitted a regular Vote By Mail Ballot Application. The regular application used to request a mail-in ballot cannot be used for the July 7 primaries. The EO#144 application will not cost the voter anything to mail, it comes in the form a prepaid postage mailer.
Under normal conditions, unaffiliated voters could apply for a Vote By Mail Ballot and not declare a party choice.
However, the July 7 Primary Elections are not being conducted under normal conditions. On May 15, 2020 Governor Murphy issued Executive Order #144 which stipulated in part that unaffiliated voters would be mailed a special Vote By Mail Application by their County Clerk. This special application only applies to the July 7 primary. The application requires that the voter declare a party in advance of being mailed their ballot, so that only one ballot is mailed. So, if you are unaffiliated and want to receive a mail-in ballot, you MUST complete and return the Special Application issued under Executive Order #144 in order to receive a ballot by mail.
The application to vote by mail under Executive Order #144 is a one-time request specific to the July 7 Primaries; you will not be required to vote by mail in future elections.
Unaffiliated voters who do not receive a mail-in ballot can vote a provisional paper ballot at their assigned polling place on Election Day.
Due to COVID-19, New Jersey Elections are pushed to July 7th, and now will be Primarily Vote-By-Mail.