Don’t blame Toms River for holding the Fire District Election on President’s weekend and a day after Valentine’s Day, as it is New Jersey State Law. With only about 1,200 of the 70,000 registered voters in Toms River casting their vote on Saturday, February 15, we went hunting for the answer as to why we vote in February. Well, we have our answer…
In accordance with NJSA 40A:14-72, the Annual Fire District Elections “shall be held annually on the third Saturday in February in each established fire district for the election of members of the board according to the expiration of terms. The place of the election shall be determined by the board and a notice thereof, and of the closing date for the filing with the clerk of the board of petitions of nominations for membership on the board, shall be published at least once in newspaper circulating in the district, at least six weeks prior to the date fixed for the election. ” According to NJSA 40A: 14-76, “the polls for any election shall be opened between the hours of 2:00 and 9:00PM.” Copy of Law
With so few voting and consequences high, such as the fire district budget that affects municipal taxes, maybe this needs to be revisited soon!