Freehold Township Residents Received Sample Ballots Late

Freehold Township voters received sample school election ballots late after trays of undelivered mail were discovered at the U.S. Postal Service's Eatontown processing center. The number of ballots that were delayed was not immediately known, according to Monmouth County Public Information Officer Laura Kirkpatrick.

Monmouth County election officials learned late Tuesday that the sample ballots for the April 27 school election had not been delivered.

All sample ballots were completed on time and delivered to the post office on April 19. However, the office was alerted of a possible problem when voters began calling to say they had not yet received their sample ballot.

“We called the post office on Tuesday and we were told that trays of undelivered sample ballots had been discovered at the Eatontown processing center,” said Hedra Siskel, commissioner of registration/superintendent of elections. “They were going to mail them on Tuesday in hopes of reaching voters by Wednesday.”

The U.S. Postal Service is conducting an investigation, Siskel said.

On Wednesday, the Monmouth County Department of Public Information issued an urgent notice to the Asbury Park Press, which assisted by posting on the newspaper’s Web site a link to the county’s Web site where all of the sample ballots could be found.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders has authorized county counsel to work to recoup money spent on postage.

Other municipalities affected included Marlboro, Tinton Falls, Spring Lake, Middletown and Eatontown.