New Jersey: How to Vote, Where to Vote and What’s on the Ballot

New Jersey voters will decide all 120 seats in the State Legislature and many local races for mayor and town council seats on Tuesday.

This is the first time that residents will elect legislative leaders for districts that were redrawn two years ago to reflect the 2020 census, and there are many new names on ballots after a spate of retirements.

In 2021, Republicans flipped seven seats in the Assembly and Senate as voter turnout surged, and the party is hoping to make additional gains on Tuesday.

Democrats, who hold a 46-to-34 majority in the Assembly and a 25-to-15 advantage in the Senate, have had a majority in both houses of the Legislature for the last 20 years.

Where to vote

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Find your polling locations here.

All vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked before 8 p.m. on Tuesday. It is also possible to deposit a vote-by-mail ballot in a designated drop box, or to deliver it to a county board of elections office, by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Your vote-by-mail ballot cannot be returned to a traditional polling location.

What’s on the ballot

There are no statewide races. But throughout the state there are competitive races, including in South Jersey, in legislative Districts 3 and 4; near the Jersey Shore, in Districts 11 and 30; near Princeton, in District 16; and in District 38, in Bergen and Passaic Counties.

Residents of Kearny, in Hudson County, will elect their first new mayor in a quarter-century after the town’s former leader, the Democrat Alberto G. Santos, became a Superior Court judge. The vacancy was filled by the appointment of a Democratic councilman, Peter Santana, who is now competing to serve the two-year remainder of the term against Carol Jean Doyle, an independent councilwoman, and Sydney Ferreira, a Republican who works in real estate.

Tuesday’s race for mayor of Brick, a large Jersey Shore community, also stemmed from a judicial appointment.

Voters there will be selecting a new mayor after the township’s longtime leader, John Ducey, a Democrat, was sworn in as a judge. A two-term Republican assemblyman, John Catalano, is competing against Lisa Crate, a Democratic councilwoman appointed in February to replace Mr. Ducey.