Published in The Record, 11/11/2016

Regarding "2016 county, municipal, election results" (Page L-3, Nov. 9):

Those who voted by absentee ballot should be aware that they were not in the unofficial results posted on the website of the Bergen County clerk at 11:18 p.m. on election night. Nor were they in the vote totals shown in The Record the following day. There were 33,000 absentee ballots, about 8.5 percent of the total votes cast.

Before the election, the Bergen County clerk's office told me that the votes were counted at the same time as ballots from the polling stations, and would be posted at the same time. When I called the day after the election to ask why the votes had not yet been posted, I was told they were still counting the ballots.

It is inexcusable that ballots sent in days, or even weeks, before the election can't be counted and posted along with the results from the polling stations. Not only could this delay affect close races, voters get a distorted view of the actual results.

It should be noted that the two Libertarian Party candidates for Bergen County Freeholder and a candidate for Allendale Town Council, were inaccurately listed in the election results as independents. Whether or not this was unintentional or deliberate, it is inexcusable.

Jim Tosone
The writer is vice chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party