Over 3.2 million ballots were cast in the race for the governor’s office. For the first time in more than 60 years, a two-term governor will give the keys to the office to a member of his own party.
The race showed the continuing popularity of early voting. Combining the vote-by-mail numbers with early in-person voting through Nov. 2, the total accounted for 41.2% of total balloting. In 2024, with a presidential race on the ballot, the number for combined early voting was even higher, at 45% of the eventual total. Voters have responded to the flexibility these options offer.
There are now three ways to vote in the Garden State, and voters are using all of them.
Clerks’ offices started sending out vote-by-mail ballots on Sept. 20. They can be mailed back right up to Election Day, but they must be appropriately postmarked and received within six days after the election. The vote-by-mail total can still change, but by Election Day was at 592,647.
Early voting in-person ran for nine days, from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2. Here the total by Election Day was even higher, at 741,924. That leaves roughly 1.9 million votes cast on Nov. 4.
A lot of the last-minute ads that crowded onto television screens and popped up online reached a sizable share of their audience who had already cast their ballots.
In Cape May County the same proportion held. Updated numbers on the county clerk’s website as of Nov. 6 showed the same 41% of ballots cast early. Of a total vote count of 44,140, 8,474 came in via vote by mail (19%) and 9,628 (22%) were cast during the early in-person period. Across the county, 26,038 (59%) voted at polling stationss on Nov. 4.
The growing popularity of early voting was accompanied by a significant uptick in turnout. Statewide the turnout for the off-year gubernatorial election hit 49% of eligible voters for the first time in 20 years of gubernatorial off-year elections.
In Cape May County the turnout reached 57% of registered voters. That beats by 4 percentage points the 53% turnout in 2021, when Jack Ciattarelli ran against Phil Murphy, who was seeking his second term.
Most states have embraced early voting. As of 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted early voting in some form. The three states that do not are Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
