Burlington County releases report on 2024 Election Day failures

In a pointed report released Thursday, a North Jersey law firm found numerous problems with how Burlington County conducted the 2024 election last November, which was characterized by “unacceptable” long lines and voting delays.

The report, written by Connell Foley LLP, a law firm in Roseland, Essex County, outlines findings of “a culture of territorialism,” “partisan tension,” and “personality conflicts” among countywide election offices. The report also cited poll workers who refused to accept delivery of a new voting machine that would have alleviated delays; poorly trained poll workers who did not understand the voting process; and election officials who would “not work together at all,” among other problems.

The findings are part of a preliminary accounting of events that presages a final report, the date of which has not been determined. The interim report was released so that elections officials would have the opportunity to address problems before the New Jersey primary election on June 10.

The report includes recommendations meant to “substantially mitigate, if not eliminate, many of the problems that occurred on Election Day in November 2024” across many of the county’s 40 municipalities.

Burlington County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson acknowledged in a statement Thursday that “there were failures all around and the report makes that clear.”

She added that Connell Foley “has done exactly what we asked,” with the interim report outlining “preliminary factual findings and assessments about what caused the unacceptable long lines and delays on Election Day, and it makes recommendations about what actions our county should take to prevent the problems from occurring again.”

Asked to address particular criticisms in the report, county spokesperson David Levinsky wrote in a statement Thursday that county commissioners asked for an “unbiased and thorough review of the election and the issues that occurred, and the interim report delivers that.”

“In the interest of transparency, the commissioners decided it was important for the full report be made public.”

The report addresses what many observers saw on Election Day: voter lines stretching out of buildings, into parking lots, and onto adjacent fields. A large percentage of voters were forced to wait — sometimes for longer than six hours, with many finally casting their ballots at 3 a.m. the next day.

Overall, just 62% of registered voters in Burlington County voted in November’s presidential election, less than the statewide average of 65%, and well below Burlington County’s 2016 general election voter turnout of 72%, the report says.

The report shows that fraught relations among personnel in the county’s election offices contributed to Election Day troubles.

There was a “lack of communication, coordination, and collaboration necessary to prepare for, administer, and improve the County’s elections process,” according to the report.

The law firm found the county responsible for a late rollout of new voting machines without an earlier pilot program.

It also discovered that the county election board had not required all poll workers to receive training with new voting machines. For the poll workers who did receive training, the board failed to permit them to have hands-on practice with the new machines, the report says.

In one voting location, poll workers were so averse to dealing with the new Dominion machines that even though voting had been delayed, they “reportedly refused to accept the delivery of another machine from the Superintendent of Elections that would have helped,” according to the report.

Other problems delineated in the report include the election board’s decision to open just seven polling locations for early voting, even though 10 were available throughout the county; a dearth of a sufficient number of machines to expedite voting; the difficulties faced by elderly and disabled voters who could not stand in line for long periods; and “inconvenient, inaccessible, and cramped polling places.”

The report suggests possible fixes for many of the difficulties that arose on Election Day. Among them:

The election board should invest in poll workers who are comfortable dealing with new technology; otherwise the problems that arose last November “will likely repeat in the future.”

To better control the voting experience, election districts should be rebalanced so they do not contain more than 750 registered voters.

The board should work with municipal clerks to assess whether all voting places can accommodate long lines, and whether polling rooms can be better laid out to ensure an efficient flow of voters.

Early voting locations and hours should be expanded.

In some cases, the county has already begun to improve, county officials said.

Commissioners have approved the purchase of additional voting machines and other election equipment.

The Burlington County Election Board, the superintendent of elections office, and the county clerk’s office have also started the process to redraw the boundaries of the election districts in five Burlington County towns to ensure none has more than the recommended standard of 750 voters.

And the county expects to increase the number of so-called IT rovers — tech experts who can troubleshoot issues with voting machines on Election Day.

“This interim report provides us with a detailed plan to ensure Burlington County has a secure, efficient and transparent voting process that all voters can have confidence in,” Hopson said in her statement.

“We are committed to delivering that.”