569,000 New Jerseyans have voted absentee as of Friday, according to an analysis by Associated Press elections researcher Ryan Dubicki.
Saturday marks the first day of in-person early voting, but residents have already returned more than 52% of requested mail-in ballots in New Jersey.
346,995 ballots (61.0% of the total) belong to registered Democrats; Republicans submitted 116,905 (20.5%), and unaffiliated voters have sent in 103,113 (18.1%) ballots. 1.088 million New Jerseyans have requested a ballot for the election.
Early ballots from Democrats, who are more likely to vote early and have more registered voters in the state, generally outnumber Republican mail-in votes.
At this point in 2022, 39.8% of voters had returned their absentee ballots of 963,822 requests, according to Dubicki.
In the competitive 7th congressional district, Democrats have submitted 33,467 ballots, Republicans 15,987, and unaffiliated voters 12,075. The Democratic return rate in the district stands at 59.8%, while the GOP return rate sits at 57.3%.