PROJECT READY APPLAUDS NEWARK’S FIRST ALL VOTE BY MAIL ELECTION

Newark-based non-profit Project Ready, which launched a voter education campaign last month to help Newarkers make the shift to New Jersey’s first 100% Vote by Mail election and which has worked with partners to boost voter registration in the city, today applauded the city’s successful first all Vote by Mail election.

“Despite the fear and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and with additional uncounted ballots still in the mail, we are encouraged that more voters participated in Newark’s school board election than in past years,” said Shennell McCloud, Executive Director of Project Ready. “This unplanned experiment in democracy shows that Voting by Mail is working, and I applaud the people of Newark for making their voices heard.”

As of Tuesday, May 12th, 7,343 votes have been cast by Vote By Mail ballot in the Newark Board of Education election. Ballots that are postmarked by May 12th and received within 48 hours of polls closing will also be counted. The total vote count will be updated through the week. There were 7,152 votes cast in the Newark Board of Education election in 2019.

In April, 2020, Project Ready launched a multi-faceted campaign to educate Newark residents on the mail-in ballot process. The campaign included a website, NewarkVotesByMail.org, which features an instructional video, as well as digital ads, a mailing, and calls and texts to Newark residents to make sure they cast their ballots.

About Project Ready:

Project Ready launched in 2018 as a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots advocacy organization devoted to protecting and expanding high-quality education in urban communities. Project Ready works to close the opportunity gap and improve life outcomes for children by powering communities to demand excellence from local schools through voter outreach, voter participation, and advocacy initiatives.  Last year, Project Ready registered more than 1,000 Newarkers to vote by mail ahead of the last Newark school board election.