New Jersey residents who plan to vote in next month's general election have until Tuesday to register.

Offices in all 21 counties will be open until 9 p.m. to accommodate prospective registrants and guide them through the process.

This year is an off-year for federal-level elections. However, all 80 seats are up for grabs in the New Jersey General Assembly, where Democrats currently hold a 54-to-26 majority.

There are also a special state Senate election in South Jersey’s 1st Legislative District and a statewide ballot question. The question seeks voter input on a constitutional amendment that would allow New Jersey's veterans’ property tax deduction to apply to residents of continuing-care retirement communities.

As always, local school board and municipal elections abound. Local ballots can be found on county websites. (See: Bergen County, Passaic County, Essex County, Morris County.)

What you need to register to vote

Everyone must be at least 18 on Nov. 5, Election Day, to vote. Nevertheless, prospective registrants can be 17. Registrants must be U.S. citizens who have been living in the county in which they wish to register for at least 30 days before the election.

Residents on probation or parole for a felony conviction cannot register, nor can those who are serving a criminal sentence.

There is no online voter registration in New Jersey. But the state Division of Elections websitecan be used to track the status of existing voters.

Residents can use the site to determine if and where they are registered to vote by typing in their addresses and other identifying information.

NJ voter registration form

Residents who are not registered to vote can use the website to download a voter registration form. Once printed and filled out, residents should have them in the mail and postmarked by Tuesday, Oct. 15, to vote on Nov. 5. They can also submit registration forms in person to their municipal or county clerk by the same deadline.

County offices in all 21 counties and many municipal clerks’ offices will be staying open late on Tuesday exclusively to assist residents in the voter registration process. Among them are municipal clerks’ offices in Fair Lawn, Oakland, Wanaque, Hawthorne, Wayne and Teaneck.

MVC registration

Since November 2018, voting-eligible residents who apply for a driver’s license, examination permit, probationary driver’s license or non-driver identification card at state Motor Vehicle Commission facilities are automatically registered to vote unless they opt out.

Voters can also register at state facilities, including those for the Division of Developmental Disabilities, county Boards of Social Services and the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Election Day

Once registered, voters can show up at their local polling place as identified on the state Division of Elections website to vote between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Election Day. Registered voters in New Jersey can also vote early by using a vote-by-mail ballot.

Until 3 p.m. on Nov. 4, residents can vote early at their county clerk’s office by applying in person for a vote-by-mail ballot, filling it out and submitting it.

Vote by mail

Residents can also stay home and apply by mail for a vote-by-mail ballot. Vote-by-mail applications must be delivered to county offices by Oct. 29 to permit time for the ballot to be sent. The completed ballots must be received within 48 hours of Election Day to count.

Only military or overseas voters are permitted to email or fax an application for a vote-by-mail ballot.

Those already signed up for a vote-by-mail ballot had until Sept. 13 to switch their preferred method to in-person voting. Those voters who did not may go to the polls but will be asked to fill out a provisional ballot. Voters should also bring identification to the polls.

Out-of-state residents should visit the federal Election Assistance Commission website for registration deadlines and absentee voter regulations for their respective states.

More NJ news

VAPING CRISIS:'My lungs were chemically burned': NJ victim speaks out against vaping

TRENDING:Off-duty NJ state trooper uses CPR to revive unconscious woman at Prudential Center