BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — The Bergen County Clerk’s Office latest updated vote totals have offered a clearer picture of how mail-in ballots affected some of the state’s tightest races, but also confused some following along with the results.
The totals published by the clerk’s office are still unofficial, and not all vote-by-mail ballots have been counted. However, those that have been counted have been beneficial to Democrats in Bergen County, including in the governor’s race, as well as Bergen County Clerk and Sheriff.
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Unofficial totals show that 14,788 people voted early, and 208,360 registered voters showed up at polls across the county on election day. But those totals now show that 48,038 people voted by mail, a statistic that is proving to be the source of confusion for some.
The vote-by-mail totals were published previously on the clerk’s website, but in a different file than the election day and early voting totals. Now, the clerk’s office has combined all three of those numbers into one document.
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Those totals can be found here.
Two files are created as part of the “standard operating procedure” at the Clerk’s Office, which allows officials to “update results as they are received in ‘real time’ for voters.”
But why the separate files?
Clerk’s Office officials told Patch that it’s because three different elections offices are responsible for the vote gathering and publication process.
The County Clerk is responsible for early voting results and election day voting machines. The Board of Elections is responsible for vote-by-mail ballots, and the superintendent and Board of Elections are responsible for provisional ballots.
“On Election Night, the Board of Elections shares with us their PDF of their Unofficial Results of what they were able to count throughout the day,” clerk’s office officials said.
“That PDF was posted to our website as a separate link. As those results are not coming from our office, they are not integrated into the County Clerk Election Day Machine Results at that time. Therefore, the public can view the two separate results files from the Board of Elections and the County Clerk’s Office to gather the unofficial results.”
The clerk’s office has since compiled the unofficial data it has currently into one document, which is why election-hungry New Jersey residents are now seeing some 40,000 mail-in votes added to the count.
Mail-In Voting Favors Democrats In Bergen County
Mail-in votes have swung races locally and county-wide, which is likely why concern and confusion have popped up.
In Fair Lawn, Democratic Deputy Mayor Josh Reinitz garnered more than 1,100 mail-in votes, swinging the tally in his favor in what was previously a very close race.
The same is true for the Democratic council candidates in Glen Rock, where Jill Orlich and Mary Barchetto both garnered more than 600 mail-in votes.
In the race for both County Clerk and Sheriff, mail-in votes will likely be the difference in both incumbents — Anthony Cureton and John Hogan — remaining in their role.
Read more: Bergen County Sheriff Election: Where Do Cureton, Kugler Stand?
Read more: Incumbent John Hogan Leads Bridget Kelly In Bergen Co. Clerk Race
Still, despite the votes painting a clearer picture for races across the state, official results aren’t yet available in Bergen County, and it’s not yet clear when the vote will be finalized.
Mail-in ballots can be received and counted until Nov. 13, according to the Bergen County Clerk’s Office, and the vote total will be made official no later than Nov. 15.