Voters in New Jersey cast 589,353 vote-by-mail ballots as of this morning, bringing vote turnout among active voters to roughly 9% so far, according to an analysis conducted by Ryan Dubicki, an election researcher for the Associated Press.
Over half (54%) of the 1,039,944 mail-in ballots sent by county clerks have been returned. Of the VBM votes cast, 357,924 (60.7%) were by Democrats, 121,003 (20.5%) were by Republicans, and 108,270 (18.3%) were by unaffiliated voters.
Democrats have a 54%-19% edge over Republicans in the total number of VBMs mailed.
Democrats are returning ballots at a rate of 60.2%; the GOP return rate is 57.2%.
In the 7th district congressional race, where Republican Tom Kean is battling for a second term against Democrat Sue Altman, 64,238 vote-by-mail ballots have been returned: 54% from Democrats and 26% from Republicans.
New Jersey began the first of nine days of in-person early voting today, with reports of long lines throughout the state. Early voting numbers are not included in the tally.