TOMS RIVER, NJ – Ocean County has long been a Republican stronghold, but mail-in ballots are allowing Democrats to bridge that gap.
According to county officials, this year, Democrats who have registered to receive mail-in ballots outnumber Republicans.
As of May 28, the Ocean County Clerk’s Office has issued 43,556 by-mail ballots to registered voters for the June 4 Primary.
“Of the total issued, 22,469 were issued to Democrats, and 21,087 were issued to
Republicans,” Ocean County Clerk Scott Colabella said. “The number of Vote by Mail ballots returned so far to the Ocean County Board of Elections total 15,815.
While a federal judge has struck down the party line in New Jersey, Collabella says that only applies to Democrats in Ocean County as the ruling only applied to Democrat primaries as no Republican mounted a challenge prior to the deadlines given by the court.
Colabella said that as a result of a federal court decision earlier this year, the Democratic Party ballot is now a block style ballot design listing all candidates and the respective office they are running for in one column.
While 2024 is a Presidential year in which Donald Trump is expected to get at least 65-70% of the total vote in Ocean County, Democrats could continue chipping away slowly in the coming years as the Republican “Get Out The Vote” campaign in Ocean County has been historically weak out of lack of necessity.
