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County clerk Christine Hanlon said Monmouth was the top county in the state for early voting. Almost 130,000 voters cast their ballots during the nine-day in-person period from Saturday, Oct. 26 through Sunday, Nov. 3.
With 510,816 registered voters, that means about 25 percent of Monmouth voters took advantage of the option to vote before Election Day.
"There was an excellent turnout for vote-by-mail and early in-person voting here in Monmouth County," Hanlon said. "We expect this to continue on Election Day, so we want to make sure voters have all of the information they need before they head to the polls."
There were 1,929,673 early votes in New Jersey, 1,166,495 of which were cast in person, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. Of the 1,113,136 requested mail ballots, 763,180 had been returned as of November 3.
Here are the party affiliations for early and mail-in voters in the UF data:
- Democratic Party - 862,101 (44.7%)
- Republican Party - 554,951 (28.8%)
- Other Parties/Unaffiliated - 512,621 (26.6%)
Affiliations are not necessarily an indication of which candidate a person voted for but the party in which they are registered.
There are 6,729,969 registered voters in New Jersey, according to state registration data. That means at least 28.7 percent of Garden State voters have already cast their ballots before Election Day.
Monmouth County is outpacing the rest of the state despite having the fourth most registered voters. Monmouth has fewer voters than Bergen (694,145), Essex (595,845), and Middlesex (510,816) counties.
On the Presidential level in 2020, former President Donald Trump defeated President Joe Biden in Monmouth County by about 10,500 votes. Trump had 50.7 percent of the Monmouth vote (191,808 votes) and President Biden had 47.9 percent (181,291).
President Biden won New Jersey with 57.3 percent (2,608,400 votes) to Trump's 41.4 percent (1,883,313). Republican Presidential candidates haven't won statewide since President George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Monmouth County is no stranger to the political world. Monmouth University is well-known for its polling institute which tracks races and issues beyond the Garden State.
The West Long Branch college released its final national poll for the 2024 Presidential race on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Monmouth said 48 percent of voters would "definitely" or "probably" support Vice President Kamala Harris, while 45 percent said the same for Trump.
The final Monmouth poll of the 2024 election cycle was for neighboring Pennsylvania, considered by many to be a crucial battleground state that could decide the Presidential race. The Tuesday, Oct. 30 poll had the race for the Keystone State's 19 electoral votes at a 47-47 tie between Vice President Harris and Trump.
Beyond Congressional and countless local races, New Jersey will also elect a new U.S. Senator to permanently replace former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. Rep. Andy Kim, a South Jersey Democrat in Congress, is running against Republican hotel developer Curtis Bashaw.
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Mail ballots can still be submitted as long as they are postmarked no later than Tuesday, Nov. 5. You can also drop off mail ballots at an official county drop box or a county's board of elections office by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
In-person voting on Election Day goes from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. in New Jersey. Voters must go to their designated polling location instead of any early voting locations.
Elections officials were expecting a high turnout and suggested that voters bring the sample ballots mailed to them. The samples have barcodes that can be scanned, speeding up the voter check-in process.
You can learn more Election Day information on New Jersey's voter information portal website.
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