Here's a video reminder that there are as many reasons to vote as there are voters.

Pick one.

And vote tomorrow, June 5, in New Jersey's primaries. 

Video: Meredith and Liz Lynch. Be A Voter Graphic: Ray Caramanna. Shout-out to members Elaine Cooper, Ken Dolsky and Tom Wyka for a great list of reasons. 

Heading toward Tuesday's finish line, here's some things reporters and commentators have had to say about the primaries.

The NJ11 Congressional Race

• New Jersey Spotlight had thoughts about the Democrats: Elbow to Elbow in the 11th.
• Spotlight also weighed in on the Republicans: With No Incumbent in the 11^th Republicans Vie For Chance.
• The New York Times endorsed Mikie Sherrill on May 28; here is their editorial.
• Memorial Day weekend saw Sherrill and Jay Webber at Morris Plains parade (Morristown Green).
• The New Jersey Globe reported on ads by Tamara Harris questioning Mikie Sherrill’s anti-Trump bona fides.
• Also at the Globe: Webber adds 100 new municipal leaders.

Primary Season Trends And Topics

• New Jersey Spotlight declares that The Primary Color Is Green: With the largest field of candidates in decades comes an equally large  total of campaign dollars -- $40 million.
• Insider NJ, meanwhile, picks out The Particular Political Challenges (Right Now) Of Ten County Party Chairs. Landing on the list are both Essex County chairs --  Democratic and Republican -- for reasons related to the 11^th District race.
• Finally, here are things you didn’t know about Jersey races in the midterms, including the Barbra Streisand angle. Go on, click through; you know you want to. (nj.com)

Elsewhere, While We’ve Been Primarying …

• In Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy restores Obamacare mandate for ‘19 (NJ.com). 
• As Patch.com notes, this was part of a slew of 14 bills signed this week by Murphy.
• In Washington: Budget battle brews as Trump threatens a shutdown – and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is reportedly unpopular with certain House conservatives unhappy with his vote against a recent farm bill, among other things. (News Observer)

Image: Pixabay

Today was an important deadline for applying by mail for a Mail-In Ballot by Mail for the Primary Election. Which makes it a good day to share additional Mail-In Ballot information!

First: If you want to receive your mail-in ballot in the mail, the application must be at your county clerk's office 7 days prior to the primary election, which is, basically, now. But read on.

Second: If you didn't make the apply-by-mail deadline, don't despair. You still have time to apply in person for your vote-by-mail ballot at your county clerk's office.

According to the NJ Department of State:

To receive your ballot by mail, the application must be received by the County Clerk 7 days prior to the election.

A voter may also apply in person to the County Clerk until 3:00 p.m., the day before the election.

The County Clerk cannot accept faxed or emailed copies of a Application for Vote by Mail Ballot, unless you are a Military or Overseas Voter, since an original signature is required.

 

You can vote by mail in New Jersey for any reason you wish -- you do not have to be officially out of town on Election Day. So if this is an option that makes sense to you, go for it. You still can.

For a complete list of vote-by-mail applications by county, go here.

Not sure whether you are registered to vote? Check at this site.

Need a voter registration form? Click here to download a form. (Make sure to choose the form for the county where you live.)

By Laurie Beacham

School shootings. Children ripped away from families. Assaults on our democracy. The list goes on. It’s hard not to wake up each day with a heavy heart. So why does my heart feel so full?

I’ve spent the last year and a half as part of a new community of activists. Smart, strategic, kind human beings who I would not know were it not for the political shi*t storm we are living through. Working mothers whose lives were already bursting at the seams, who now find time to knock on doors. People with aging parents who take time out to write postcards. Teenagers who (gulp) take time away from hanging with friends to protest gun violence.

Bonded by a shared distress over events around us and a desire to do something about it, we’ve discovered our respective talents and pooled them wisely. We’ve identified the writers and the history buffs, the number crunchers and the political junkies, the artists and the knitters. We know who does what well and we support each other in doing it.

Spending hours upon hours together, we’ve also gotten to know each other. Our struggles and joys, our families and jobs, and even our dogs and cats! We make each other laugh and we let each other cry. In this thriving community of hearts and minds, many of us have become friends.

It’s a strange duality, knowing each day that something is very wrong – and something is very right. Watching the growth of a beautiful garden from our political hole in the ground. Feeling my heart both hurting -- and exquisitely full.

And it strikes me that this wonderful community is not just a side benefit of these challenging times, but the solution itself.  If this were the way the whole world was, wouldn’t everything be okay?

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Laurie Beacham is the Media Director of NJ 11th for Change and lives in Livingston.