Voting by mail has begun for the Nov. 7 election in NJ. What you need to know

Voting is under way in the Garden State. With less than a month until Election Day and just a few weeks until polls open for early in-person voting, 127,600 New Jersey voters have already submitted their ballots.

There are 6,476,749 registered voters in the state and about 913,005 opt to use vote-by-mail ballots, according to state officials.

Vote-by-mail ballots skew heavily toward Democrats, with about 524,481 requested in comparison to 168,507 Republican requests.

The return rate is about the same though, with 16%, or 84,431 Democrats, already sending back their vote-by-mail ballots to 17%, or 28,473 Republicans, returning theirs.

Can you still get a vote-by-mail ballot?

And for voters who still need their vote-by-mail ballot, there’s still time. According to Alicia D’Alessandro, a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Department, voters can request ballots through the mail up to a week before the election and in person at their County Clerk’s office until 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6.

NJ's 2023 election FAQ: Voter registration, ballot deadlines, vote-by-mail and more

How can you return your NJ vote-by-mail ballot?

There are as usual three options for returning ballots:

• They can be mailed back through the post office. Returned ballots must be postmarked on or before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7 and be received by a county’s Board of Elections on or before Monday, Nov. 13.

• They can also be dropped into a county’s secure ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.

• They can be delivered in person directly to a county’s Board of Elections Office by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ vote by mail has started for Nov. 7 general election. What to know