Passaic County officials have completed 2024 election counts Saturday, showing new vote totals but retaining election night results.
Turnout in the county increased by more than 3% from the initial count, thanks in part to the addition of 8,333 provisional ballots from Passaic County residents. These ballots were distributed to voters at polling places due to problems such as address discrepancies or missing information from poll books. Additionally, voters who requested an absentee ballot but chose to vote in person also received provisional ballots for review by the county superintendent of elections and possible inclusion in the final tally.
In total, Passaic County had a slightly higher turnout rate of 60.5%, with 205,420 ballots cast out of 339,508 registered voters. Voter turnout varied widely across the county. Strong turnout was seen in towns such as Ringwood, North Haledon and Little Falls, with lower turnout in Democratic strongholds such as Haledon, Prospect Park, Passaic and Paterson, where President-elect Donald Trump performed much better than in previous campaigns and won a district in Wards 2 and 6.
Although the final count of provisional ballots did not change the overall results, it tightened the margins in some elections, such as the Bloomingdale Local Council race. The updated totals narrowed the gap for one of the two borough council seats from 26 votes to just two votes, with Democratic candidate Jenniffer Hagin securing 2,000 votes to Republican candidate Evelyn M. Schubert’s 2,002 .
Hagin could not be reached for comment Sunday, and it remains unclear whether a recount will take place. The deadline for recount requests in New Jersey is Nov. 23, according to state records. Two days later, the county clerk must send the official results to the secretary of state.
In addition to the 111,599 votes cast on Election Day, Passaic County recorded 59,106 early votes in an unprecedented year for in-person early voting, according to county records. Mail-in voting also played an important role in this election. The county received nearly 27,000 mail-in ballots and distributed 42,264, for a return rate slightly higher than the total turnout of 60.5%. Bergen County, on the other hand, saw about 70% of its registered voters cast ballots in the election, a similar rate to Passaic County in 2020.
Passaic County’s results released Saturday also brought an anomaly to the competition for two three-year terms on the Lakeland Regional School Board. Kerrian Palmieri and Matthew Geyer both won seats with 3,241 votes each.