Hudson County Clerk E. Junior Maldonado said “I’d be leery of calling close races any time soon” when asked about Tuesday’s primary election, which will be contested mostly via vote-by-mail ballots.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We’re expecting close to 70,000 total votes cast right now and have already received around 50,000 vote-by-mail ballots. I’d be leery of calling close races any time soon,” Maldonado said over the phone yesterday.
In the June 2016 primary during the previous presidential election cycle, there were 85,000 total votes cast.
While some polling locations will still be open tomorrow between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., which can be located via the county clerk’s website, provisional votes will be the norm.
Things begin to get much more complicated from there, as under Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) Executive Order 144, provisional ballots won’t be counted until July 14th.
Furthermore, voters who have their ballot disqualified for technical reasons, such as an invalid signature, will have until July 23rd to remedy those issues, while July 29th is the deadline for all county board of elections to have emergency and provisional ballot reports prepared.
The featured matchup in Hudson this time around is the 8th District congressional race, with U.S. Rep. Albio Sires taking on upstart progressive challenger Hector Oseguera.
Armed services veteran Will Sheehan is also on the ballot in that contest.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) also faces a progressive opponent in Larry Hamm, a Newark school board trustee in the 80s.
Four Hudson County freeholder races, in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Districts, respectively, will see head-to-head matchups as well.
