Nearly 210,000 vote-by-mail ballots cast for ’23 primary

New Jersey election officials have reported 209,729 vote-by-mail ballots returned as of yesterday, 29% of the 730,596 ballots mailed out, according to an analysis by Ryan Dubicki, an Associated Press election researcher.

Both parties are returning VBMs at roughly the same rate: 30% for Democrats and 27% for Republicans.   There were 536,991 mail-in ballot requests from Democrats and 173,355 from Republicans; 20,193 unaffiliated voters were sent vote-by-mail ballots, with just 311 returned.

The three Camden County-based legislative districts continue to lead the state in returned mail-in ballots: 10,510 in the 4th; 10,040 in the 5th; and 14,355 in the 6th.

Ballot return rates in the most closely-watched legislative primaries exceed the statewide totals for Republicans, but not for Democrats:

* 3rd District Republicans: 1,884 ballots returned (39%).
* 4th District Republicans: 2,645 ballots returned (37%).
* 24th District Republicans: 2,006 ballots returned (34%).
* 26th District Republicans: 1,945 ballots returned (32%).
* 27th District Democrats: 3,686 ballots returned (27%).
* 28th District Democrat: 2,653 ballots returned (23%).