BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — Bergen County is spending nearly $59,000 on new secure bags to transport paper ballots after Election Day, using a $50,000 election security grant to upgrade how ballots and required paperwork are handled.

The funding was awarded through the United States Alliance for Elections and approved by the Bergen County Commissioners on Sept. 16. The grant will cover about 85 percent of the cost, with the remaining amount paid through the Bergen County Superintendent of Elections Office budget.

The new bags are designed with a rigid frame that will keep ballots flat and prevent them from shifting or folding during transport from polling places to county election offices at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack.

But the upgraded bags will not be ready in time for the Nov. 3 general election.

The county's current duffel-style bags can allow ballots and paperwork to shift during transport. One of the key documents inside each bag is a ballot transfer form, which must be completed and signed by a designated super poll worker before the bag is sealed.

Jordan Zeigler, an assistant administrative analyst with the Superintendent of Elections Office, said the current system can create an unnecessary scramble on election night to locate the paperwork.

“At the end of election night, when we're trying to find the ballot transfer form, there was a significant loss of efficiency on that part,” Zeigler said, “in order to find that important paperwork and file it right away.”

The new bags are designed to keep the ballots in place and the transfer form on top.

“The ballots are going to sit nicely in the bag and then the ballot transfer form is going to go right on top,” Zeigler said. “On election night, all we will have to do is break the seal and write down the seal number to confirm that everything is fine.”

Once polls close, election workers collect and seal the printed ballots in secure bags before transporting them to the county's election offices. The ballots are then stored according to state retention requirements and eventually destroyed.

Bergen County switched to voting machines that produce paper ballots in 2023, creating a physical record of every vote cast. After voters review and print their ballots, the ballots are scanned into tabulators before being securely stored for potential audits or recounts.

The new bags are made by the same company that produces the county's existing bags.

Poll workers are currently being trained on the new system. County officials said the upgrade is expected to make the ballot-collection process more orderly and efficient at polling places and at county headquarters.

The grant is the first time Bergen County has applied for funding through the program. County officials said the opportunity was identified by the county's grant-writing firm.

For the November election, however, the county will continue using its existing ballot bags while the new system is prepared for future elections.