Eligible New Jersey residents who want to cast ballots for the state’s next governor must register by Tuesday, October 14. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
New Jerseyans looking to pick the state’s next governor have until Tuesday to register in time to vote in this year’s gubernatorial race.
State residents who are U.S. Citizens can register to vote if they are not incarcerated and have lived in their county for at least 30 days preceding Election Day. They must be at least 17 to register, though only those who turn 18 before Nov. 4 are eligible to vote.
Would-be voters can register online or by returning registration applications in person to their county’s superintendent of elections or commissioner of registration, depending on the county. Those offices, like local clerks and some state agencies, can provide voter registration forms.
Those forms can also be obtained online, and officials will accept voter registration applications returned by mail as long as they are postmarked no later than Oct. 14. New Jersey requires voters to be registered 21 days before an election to vote in that race.
Besides the governor’s race — Jack Ciattarelli (R) and Mikie Sherrill (D) are the front-runners to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy (D) — all 80 Assembly seats will be on the ballot this year.
The election is Nov. 4. Early in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 25. Mail-in ballots are being accepted now.
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Though Democrats maintain a massive voter registration lead, that lead has narrowed since the state’s last gubernatorial contest.
In 2021, there were a little less than 2.6 million registered Democrats and just over 1.5 million registered Republicans on Election Day.
By the start of this month, Democrats’ registration edge had narrowed to 855,049, according to state voter registration data. Republican gains and Democratic losses both drove the changes.
The GOP gained 163,847 registered voters since Election Day 2021, while Democrats lost 51,396.
The number of unaffiliated voters — what New Jersey calls independents — also declined over that time, falling by 70,369 to more than 2.3 million.
New Jersey has gained 33,991 voters since the last gubernatorial election. Just over 6.6 million residents are registered to cast ballots in the state.
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