Little uncertainty after N.J.’S mail-in election
Counting in close races continues through July
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s practically all-mail primary on Tuesday produced results in some of the state’s most closely watched contests despite concerns that Election Day would end in uncertainty.
Though there was little suspense, former Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary, and Democratic incumbent Sen. Cory Booker was victorious against his challenger.
In perhaps the most closely watched race, Amy Kennedy, the spouse of former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, defeated Brigid Harrison and others in southern New Jersey’s 2nd District Democratic primary. Kennedy won with the backing of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and had aired ads on broadcast TV.
Counting in other undecided races is guaranteed to continue throughout the month. Ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday have until July 14 to be counted, and issues with a voter’s signature can be remedied with county election officials until July 23.
New Jersey had no-excuse voting by mail before Tuesday, but the experiment with nearly all mail-in voting stemmed from the COVID-19 outbreak. Murphy mandated that all
Democrats and Republicans get mailin ballots, and unaffiliated voters be sent applications to join a party so they could participate. In-person voting was limited to provisional ballots, which would count only after officials verified mailed ballots weren’t returned.
In most election years, voting by mail is an unremarkable event. However, this year is seen as different because President Donald Trump has railed against states’ efforts to expand access to voting by mail as an alternative to waiting in lines at polling places during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The president’s concerns were echoed by the state GOP, which asked the U.S. attorney to install federal election monitors for the primary.