With two weeks left before Election Day, New Jerseyans have cast 500,810 vote-by-mail ballots – about 8% of the state’s registered voters – according to an analysis by Ryan Dubicki, an elections researcher for the Associated Press.
Election officials have mailed 1,068,748 mail-in ballots since last month, with 47% already recorded as returned. Roughly 18% of all active voters have requested a VBM ballot.
Democrats represent 55% of the requested statewide ballots and 61% of those that have already come back; the return rate for Democrats is 53%. 19% of all VBM requests were from Republicans and 20.5% of the total in-hand votes; GOP voters have sent back 50% of their ballots
In New Jersey’s 7th district, the site of a close race between Republican incumbent Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) and Democrat Sue Altman, 111,592 ballots were mailed out: 49% went to Democrats, 24% to Republicans, and 27% to unaffiliated voters.
A total of 53,177 VBMs (48%) have been returned: 29,430 from Democrats, who have a return rate of 53%; 13,766 from Republicans, with a 41% return rate; and 9,807 from unaffiliateds, a return rate of 34%.
According to TargetSmart, 55.6% of returned VBMs come from women; 74% of votes already cast are from voters over age 50.