NEW JERSEY ELECTION DAY
Where is my polling place for the New Jersey gubernatorial election?
Tuesday, 2 November is Election Day in New Jersey and voters will have the chance to cast a ballot for the next governor. Here's how to find your polling location.
Tomorrow 2 November is Election Day in New Jersey.
At the top of the ticket, residents of the Garden State will choose to keep their governor or elect the Republican challenger. Additionally, in this off-year election, voters will elect other state and local officials, and decide whether betting on collegiate sports teams will be legalized.
Who is running for Governor?
Incumbent Democratic Govenor Phil Murphy is seeking reelection against Republican former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. Gov. Murphy has faced a difficult race, with the GOP pouring millions of dollars into the election in a state that has not reelected Democratic governor since 1977. However, one of the most recent polls on the race conducted by Monmouth poll found Phil Murphy with an eleven-point lead.
High-profile Democratic and Republican leaders, including President Barack Obama, have visited the state in recent days to mobilize voters from both parties.
When will the polls be open on Election Day?
For those looking to cast their ballot in person, the state offers an online tool to identify your polling location. The Polling Place Search asks users to provide their street address and zip code and then informs them of the location they need to present themselves to vote.
Voters will be able to cast their ballot in person between 6 AM and 8 PM on Tuesday.
Status of the race after early voting
Early voting in the state began on 23 October.
State election officials had predicted that around thirty percent of the electorate would opt to vote during the early voting period which ended on 31 October.
In-person
NorthNewJersey.com reported that four days into the early voting period, more than 68,000 -- 31,575 Democrats, 22,297 Republicans, 13,714 unaffiliated --- ballots had been cast. The new data has surprised many election experts in the state including Micah Rasmussen of the Rebovich Institute who told the outlet that “Republicans are a lot warmer toward early in-person voting than they are vote by mail.”
Vote by Mail
Rasmussen's analysis does track with trends seen in relation to mail-in ballots.
By 28 October, the number of Democrats who had returned a mail-in ballot was more than triple that sent by Republicans. More than 541,000 Democrats had requested a mail-in ballot and 268,524 had returned theirs. The number requested by Republicans was less than half, 171,000, and just a few days before the election only 80,821 had been sent in.
Rasmussen told NorthNewJersey.com that he estimated that when all votes were counted 500,000 of the states more than 6.8 million registered voters would cast their ballot by mail, with 150,000 voting in person during the nine-day early voting period.