More than a million New Jerseyans have now requested an absentee ballot for the November election, according to an analysis by Associated Press researcher Ryan Dubicki.
Nearly 300,000 of those ballots — 291,651, to be exact — have been returned with less than four weeks until Election Day. In our last update, about 65% of returned ballots belonged to registered Democrats — that number has dipped slightly to 64.1%.
Democrats, who are more likely to vote early and have more registered voters in the state, generally outnumber Republican mail votes.
About 28.8% of requested ballots have been returned so far. Dubicki said the number of returned ballots is starting to decline by the day, but expects the numbers will bump back up about a week before the election.
Democrats maintain a narrow lead in terms of return rate. About 33.3% of registered Democrats have returned their absentee ballots, compared to 31.2% of registered Republicans and 17.2% of unaffiliated voters. Dubicki said that at this point in 2022, Republicans held a narrow lead: 21% for Democrats, 22.2% for Republicans, and 9.4% for unaffiliated voters.
More than 28,000 ballots have been returned in New Jersey’s competitive 7th congressional district. Democrats have returned 30.8% of requested absentee ballots in the district, slightly more than the GOP’s 30.3%.