New Jersey extends deadline for fax and email voting

New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno in New Jersey extended the deadline (PDF) to vote via email or fax ballot until Friday, CBS News reported Tuesday.

The deadline for applying to vote by either means expired as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, but county clerks now have until Friday to process the applications, make sure applicants have not already voted and issue them ballots and "waivers of secrecy," which voters must return by 8 p.m. Friday.

Guadagno's directive is part of efforts to accomodate voters while the state recovers from the effects of superstorm Sandy. Tuesday morning, Barbara Arnswine, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the storm had made the voting experience in the state a "catastrophe," Talking Points Memo reported.

Election officials said servers in three counties had broken down, preventing some residents from turning in their electronic ballots, underscoring concerns about the security and viability of allowing email voting on such a large scale.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]