Democrats maintained a slight edge over Republicans in the now-finished early voting, according to an analysis by Associated Press elections researcher Ryan Dubicki.
After nine days of early voting and weeks of mail ballot returns, 1,936,020 New Jerseyans have now voted. In-person early voting spiked this year: 1,172,842 people voted over nine days of early voting, including 418,544 Democrats and 400,792 Republicans.
More New Jerseyans have voted in the state’s tight 7th district race between Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) and Democrat Sue Altman than in any other district, and the numbers show a tight race. Nearly 220,000 7th districters have voted, including about 82,700 Democrats and 78,600 Republicans. About 57,000 unaffiliated voters have submitted their ballots.
Early voting in the 7th skewed GOP: 56,956 Republicans and 38,882 Democrats voted in person. 37,899 unaffiliated voters also logged their votes early in the 7th.
About 72% of mail-in ballots have been returned in the 7th — county clerks mailed out 117,493 in the district.
* Democrats requested 56,788 VBMs, 48.3% of the total mailed, and have returned 43,828. That’s a return rate of 77.1%, with 12,960 outstanding ballots.
* Republicans requested 28,846 VBMs, 24.6% of the total mailed, and have returned 21,683. That’s a return rate of 75.1%, with 7,163 outstanding ballots.
* Unaffiliated voters requested 31,288 VBMs, 26.6% of the total mailed, and have returned 18,990. That’s a return rate of 60.6%, with 12,298 outstanding ballots.
Statewide, the 1,936,020 total votes cast in advance of Tuesday’s election through last night represents a 28.8% registered voter turnout.
Of the 763,178 returned VBMs, 58.3% are from Democrats, 20.4% are from Republicans, and 20.9% are from unaffiliated voters.