1-in-6 N.J. voters receive primary ballot by mail and 27% have returned them

New Jerseyans have returned 27% of all vote-by-mail ballots requested for the June 7 primary election, with 233,630 voters already returning their ballots, according to an analysis conducted by Ryan Dubicki of the Associated Press.

A total of 875,554 ballots were mailed out by election officials for the primary, which means about one-in-six New Jersey voters are either on the forever vote-by-mail list or specifically requested a VBM for this year.

Both parties are returning mail-in ballots at roughly the same pace: 34% of Democrats and 32% of Republicans.

In the 3rd district Republican primary, where three candidates are seeking a shot to take on Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), a total of 5,469 VBMs have been returned – 33.7% of those mailed by election officials.  Returned ballots in Burlington have just slightly eclipsed those sent back in Mercer and Monmouth.

Republicans have returned 3,452 mail in ballots in the 5th district – 34.7% of those sent – in a race to pick an opponent for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff).   The contest between Marine combat veteran Nick De Gregorio and 2020 candidate Frank Pallotta is potentially the most competitive House primary in the state.

In Sussex, where Pallotta has party support, 41% of Republican ballots have been returned.  Bergen, which has awarded its organization line to De Gregorio, has returned 26% of vote by mail ballots.  About three-quarters of Republicans in NJ-5 live in Bergen County.

Seven Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination for Congress in the 7th district, where Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) wants a third term, and 35% of Republicans have already cast their mail-in ballots.  Hunterdon (40%) and Warren (39%) are returning VBMs at a fast pace than Morris, Somerset and Union, were about 31% of the GOP ballots are in.

The highest number of GOP returned mail-in ballots are in the 4th district, 7,246 (37%), where Rep. Christopher Smith (R-Manchester) faces three primary opponents – one of them dropped out last month but his name remains on the ballot – in his bid for renomination to a 21st term.

In the 10th district, 28% of Democrats have returned their vote-by-mail ballots.  Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark) has two primary opponents.