Toms River Voter Guide 2020: What You Need To Know

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Although the 2020 General Election is slated to be conducted primarily by mail and polling places have been reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are still several options to make sure your vote is counted.

In Toms River that includes using a secure drop box, mailing your ballot back, hand-delivering it to the Ocean County Board of Elections, or hand-delivering your ballot to your polling place, or voting by provisional ballot at your polling location.

The Rundown

• Election date: Nov. 3
• Where can I drop off my ballot? Ocean County Ballot Drop-Box Locations 2020
• Mailing it? Ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 10
• Where can I vote in person? A limited number of in-person polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. ADA-compliant machines will be available for those with disabilities that prevent them from voting on paper ballots. All other voters will be given a provisional ballot. Find your polling location: Nov. 3 Election Polling Locations For Toms River
• Track my mail-in ballot.

What And Who Are On The Ballot?

In Toms River the only local election is for the Toms River Regional Board of Education. There are three, three-year seats being contested. The school board seats are unpaid, volunteer positions.

There are nine candidates seeking those seats, aligned in three slates:

• Toms River 1st, comprised of Lisa Contessa, Ken Londregan and Ashley Palmiere;
• Children First, comprised of Rachel Remelgado, Michele Williams and Daynne Glover;
• Moving TR Forward, comprised of Bridget Maillard, Robert Onofrietti, and Christopher Raimann.

Contessa ran for the school board in 2019 but was unsuccessful. Londregan ran in the Republican primary for a seat on the Toms River Township Council on the ticket headed by mayoral candidate Dan Rodrick. Palmiere has not sought elected office previously.

Williams is the former principal at St. Joseph's Elementary School and is the only incumbent seeking re-election to the school board. Remelgado and Glover are both newcomers.

Maillard is the parent who started a petition lobbying the state Legislature regarding the S2 funding cuts. Onofrietti is a former board member who lost a bid for re-election in 2016 and lost again in 2017. Raimann served on the board but lost his bid for re-election in 2018.

The election campaign has been nasty, with claims and counterclaims.

A limited number of polling places will be open on Nov. 3, the same day that mail-in ballots must be postmarked in order to be counted. Read more: NJ 2020 Election Guide: How To Vote, Who's On The Ballot

Here's a quick rundown of the choices that voters will be asked to make on a national, state and county level:

• Presidential race: Residents can either cast a write-in vote or choose, among the major parties, between Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, or Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris. Also running are: Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Constitution Party); Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (Green); Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (Libertarian); Gloria La Riva/Sunil Freeman (Party for Socialism and Liberation); Roque De La Fuente/Darcy Richardson (The Alliance Party) and Bill Hammons/Eric Bodenstab (Unity Party).
• U.S. Senate: One U.S. Senate seat will be contested: Incumbent Democrat Cory Booker will face several Republican, Green Party and independent challengers.
• U.S. House of Representatives: All 12 House seats in New Jersey are up for election, including the Third District, where Brick Township falls. The Third District race pits Democrat Andy Kim, the incumbent, against Republican David Richter, and two independents, Martin Weber of Barnegat and Robert Shapiro of Haddonfield.
• Ocean County: There is one four-year term on the Board of Freeholders up for election. Incumbent Republican Joseph Vicari is being challenged by Democrat Helen Dela Cruz and by Libertarian Party candidate Dan Valentine. The County Clerk's race features Republican Scott Colabella vs. Democrat Kathy M. Russell.
• Marijuana legalization/Ballot questions: Voters will decide whether to legalize the possession and use of marijuana. Voters will also decide whether to makes peacetime veterans eligible to receive the veterans' property tax deduction.

For more coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here.

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