One week before New Jersey’s primary, 190,000 mail votes have been cast

New Jerseyans have cast 190,230 mail votes with one week to go until the state’s June 6 primary, according to an ongoing analysis by Ryan Dubicki, an election researcher for the Associated Press. That represents 26% of the 729,933 mail ballots that have been requested, though not all of those are going to be returned.

As has become the norm in New Jersey elections, Democrats have cast far more mail votes than Republicans: 146,325 to 43,626, a more than three-to-one ratio. (The two parties’ return rates, however, are relatively similar: 27% for Democrats, 25% for Republicans.)

In the 3rd legislative district, where State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) and Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich) are facing off against each other, Republicans have cast 1,761 mail votes, a return rate of 36%. Democrats, who also have a contested primary in the competitive district, have cast 5,787 mail ballots for a return rate of 40%, the highest in the state.

The neighboring 4th district is also hosting a contested GOP primary; there, Republican voters have returned 2,432 mail votes for a 34% return rate.

Up in the 24th district, where there’s a five-way GOP race for two Assembly seats, Republicans voters have returned 1,765 mail ballots (30% return rate). And in the showdown in the 26th district, GOP voters have cast 1,754 mail ballots (29% return rate).

The state’s lone incumbent-on-incumbent showdown is the Democratic primary in the 27th district, where State Sen./former Gov. Richard Codey (D-Roseland) and State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair) are running against one another; there, 4,084 Democrats have returned mail ballots (23% return rate).

Finally, the 28th district, where three Democrats are vying for two Assembly seats, has seen 2,249 Democratic mail ballots returned (19% return rate).

Presumably – hopefully – the number of mail ballots returned will rise substantially in the final days before Election Day. This Friday also marks the beginning of New Jersey’s three-day early voting period, a new innovation which did not draw huge numbers of voters in its first few iterations.