Early voting begins in New Jersey

Early polling centers across New Jersey opened Tuesday morning to accept ballots for the June 2 congressional primaries.

Voters across New Jersey will choose which candidates will represent their parties in November general elections that could help decide control of Congress for the next two years.

The six-day early voting period for this year’s primaries will run through May 31. Early polling centers are open between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., or 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Eligible voters can cast their ballot at any early polling center in their county. The state maintains a list of those polling centers.

More than 741,924 New Jerseyans cast early in-person ballots during last year’s general election, when voters picked their candidates for governor and the General Assembly.

New Jersey’s 12 seats in the House of Representatives are on the ballot this year, as is the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Cory Booker (D), who is seeking a third term.

Marquee races include the 12th District’s Democratic primary, where a dozen Democrats are vying for the nomination to run in the overwhelmingly Democratic district now represented by a retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s (D), and the 7th District, where four Democrats are fighting for the nod to face Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R) in November.

Booker faces no opposition in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. Four Republicans are vying to take him on in November: Robert Lebovics, Justin Murphy, Richard Tabor, and Alex Zdan.

New Jersey law demands the state reimburse counties for up to five, seven, or 10 early polling sites, depending how many registered voter a county has, and counties must stand up at least three, five, or seven sites, depending on their size.

Only two counties — Essex and Hudson — will create more than 10 polling sites this year. Essex will stand up 11, while Hudson will create 31.