Despite July Warning, Ballots Still Mislead Voters in Berkeley Heights BOE Race
Berkeley Heights voters opened their mailboxes this week to find yet another problematic ballot. The Board of Education section tells residents to “Vote for Two” candidates — even though there are actually three seats up for election this year.
This isn’t the first time the error was raised. Back on July 29th, I emailed Union County officials to flag the mistake. Local media outlets corrected their reporting after being notified. Yet despite those warnings, the faulty version is the one that went to print and was mailed directly to residents.
I followed up today with another email to the County Clerk and Deb Varnerin – who sits on the Union County Board of elections. Here is a copy of the email I sent:
Dear Ms. Rajoppi, Ms. Varnerin, and Members of the Union County Board of Elections,
I’m writing a second time on what appear to be a persistent – and in my opinion – purposeful error on the Berkeley Heights Ballot.
Back on July 29th, I emailed the County to warn that the ballot was wrong. It stated two Board of Education seats when there are in fact three seats up for election this year. We even published on this error.
Despite that notice and the article, the ballots mailed to voters still say “Vote for Two” instead of “Vote for Three.” based on screen shots of a ballot we received from a resident.
That isn’t a typo, it’s a mistake that directly misleads voters and can limit how many candidates they believe they can support -especially seniors and new voters. Given the notice and attention this received it is hard to believe this was yet another innocent mistake.
How did this make it through to the certified ballot and into people’s mailboxes?
At this point, I’m asking for immediate action. A correction needs to occur and new ballots need to go out. Additionally, the county and township need to convey this error and what they will do to correct it on their social media outlets and communication channels.
This goes to the heart of election integrity.
Voters deserve ballots and instructions they can trust. I look forward to your response within the next 48 hours with details on how this is being corrected.
Copy Of Email Sent in July
Update 09/23/2025 @ 4:04pm:
In response to our email, County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi acknowledged the mistake, calling it a printing error that “unfortunately was not caught.” She claimed that corrected ballots are in the process of being printed and sent to voters in envelopes marked “Corrected Ballot.” Return envelopes will also be labeled, allowing the Board of Elections to identify and count them properly without risk of double-counting.
Rajoppi said the county will also notify early voters who have not yet received their ballots, giving them the chance to vote for three candidates as required.
However, the correction may not fully fix the damage. Voters who already received the flawed ballot may be confused by a second ballot. Some may not go through the extra of casting the corrected version which could lead to lower turnout.
While the correction addresses the immediate ballot problem, questions remain about how this error made it through certification in the first place — and why it persisted even after weeks of advance notice.
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