//Run for office · New Jersey

How to run for local office in New Jersey

New Jersey primaries now use an office-block ballot with no county line, nine days of early voting precede every November election, and municipal candidates file with the municipal clerk 71 days before the June primary.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

New Jersey is a county-run state with a statewide rulebook. County clerks print the ballots and issue mail-in ballots, county boards of elections count them, and the county commissioner of registration (the superintendent of elections in nine counties) keeps the voter rolls and sells the registry lists. The Division of Elections in Trenton sets the calendar and certifies state candidates; the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) handles every campaign finance filing, down to the smallest borough council race.

The biggest recent change is the ballot itself. P.L.2025, c.32 abolished the county-line design after a federal court found it unconstitutional in 2024; since June 2025 every primary ballot groups candidates by office with a single draw for position, and slogans of up to six words replace party-organization bracketing. For a first-time candidate that means ballot position no longer depends on a county party endorsement. The 2027 primary is June 8 with petitions due March 29, and the general election is November 2.

Election authority: New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · Set by each county at the cost of reproduction, capped at $375 for the full county list under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1 (statute checked 2026-09-09); county clerks charge $0.25 per election-district copy of the printed list.
Campaign finance: New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC)
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: 21 days before the election (N.J.S.A. 19:31-6): May 18, 2027 for the primary and October 12, 2027 for the general. The Division's page states New Jersey does not allow registration on Election Day.
Local offices: Mixed. Most county and municipal offices are partisan with June primaries. Municipalities that adopted nonpartisan government under the Optional Municipal Charter Law hold nonpartisan elections on the second Tuesday in May (N.J.S.A. 40:45-7) or in November by local choice. School board seats are nonpartisan.

Who runs elections in New Jersey

New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections The Division of Elections publishes the primary and general election timelines with every statutory deadline, issues the petition instruction sheets and forms, certifies federal and state candidates, sets ballot design standards under P.L.2025, c.32, and runs the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS) behind the voter search and Track My Ballot tools. Local candidates use its calendar and forms but file petitions locally and finance reports with ELEC.

All 21 counties have three election offices. The county clerk accepts petitions for county offices, prints ballots, and issues vote-by-mail ballots. The county board of elections receives voted mail-in ballots, runs early voting and Election Day, and canvasses results. The commissioner of registration (the superintendent of elections in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Monmouth, and Passaic; the board of elections elsewhere) registers voters and maintains the registry lists. Municipal clerks accept petitions for municipal offices and certify those candidates up to the county clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-14).

Getting the New Jersey voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In New Jersey it comes from County commissioner of registration (superintendent of elections or county board of elections), under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1.

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: Set by each county at the cost of reproduction, capped at $375 for the full county list under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1 (statute checked 2026-09-09); county clerks charge $0.25 per election-district copy of the printed list.
Format: Confirm with County commissioner of registration (superintendent of elections or county board of elections), under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Not included
Updated: Confirm with County commissioner of registration (superintendent of elections or county board of elections), under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1

Who can get it: Any registered voter, candidate, or party chair. N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1 requires the commissioner of registration to furnish the registry list to any voter who requests it, and county clerks to give copies to party chairs and candidates on request.

Permitted use: Political and election use. The statute bars using registration lists as a basis for commercial or charitable solicitation of the voters listed. Signatures are excluded from the lists.

County option: The county is the route. New Jersey's statute puts the registry list with the county commissioner of registration, and each county sells its own file; ask for the electronic version with voting history. The Division of Elections posts only aggregate registration statistics by county, district, and party on its SVRS statistics archive, not a voter-level statewide file, so confirm directly with the Division if you need all 21 counties in one pull.

N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1 limits the list to five fields: name, address, date of birth, party affiliation, and voting history. Phone numbers and email are not on the list, and N.J.S.A. 19:63-3 keeps the phone and email collected on mail-in applications out of public disclosure.
Counties differ on format and turnaround. Ask the commissioner of registration for a delimited text or spreadsheet export and the date of the last update before you pay.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in New Jersey

Party candidates for partisan local offices run in the June primary by nominating petition. Municipal candidates file with the municipal clerk; county candidates file with the county clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6). Signature counts scale with population under N.J.S.A. 19:23-8, for example at least 100 party voters in a municipality over 50,000 and 75 in one of 25,000 to 50,000, with smaller towns needing fewer; county offices need 1% of the party's last primary vote or 300, whichever is less, but never under 150. There are no filing fees. Independent candidates file petitions by 4:00 p.m. on primary day (N.J.S.A. 19:13-9) with signatures up to 250 for a municipal office and 5% of the last Assembly vote for larger districts, capped at 2,000 (N.J.S.A. 19:13-5). Faulkner Act municipalities with nonpartisan government vote in May and take petitions through the municipal clerk on a separate schedule; school board candidates file 25-signature petitions with the county clerk by the last Monday in July (N.J.S.A. 19:60-7).

File with: Municipal clerk for municipal offices; county clerk for county offices and for November school board seats; Division of Elections only for state and federal offices (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6, 19:13-3).
Filing fee: None. New Jersey does not charge candidate filing fees for primary or independent petitions.
Petition: Primary: population-based counts under N.J.S.A. 19:23-8 (for example 100 signatures in a municipality over 50,000; county office 1% of the party's last primary vote or 300, whichever is less, minimum 150). Independent: no more than 250 for a municipal office, 5% of the last General Assembly vote for other districts, capped at 2,000 (N.J.S.A. 19:13-5). School board: 25 signatures (N.J.S.A. 19:60-7).
Partisan?: Mixed. Most county and municipal offices are partisan with June primaries. Municipalities that adopted nonpartisan government under the Optional Municipal Charter Law hold nonpartisan elections on the second Tuesday in May (N.J.S.A. 40:45-7) or in November by local choice. School board seats are nonpartisan.

Filing window: Primary petitions are due before 4:00 p.m. on the 71st day before the primary (N.J.S.A. 19:23-14, as shown on the Division's 2026 timeline); the municipal clerk certifies municipal candidates to the county clerk by noon on the 61st day. Independent nominating petitions are due by 4:00 p.m. on primary day (N.J.S.A. 19:13-9). November school board petitions are due by 4:00 p.m. on the last Monday in July; April school election petitions by the 50th day before (N.J.S.A. 19:60-7). May nonpartisan municipal elections under the Faulkner Act set their own petition deadline through the municipal clerk.

Key New Jersey dates
What	When	Note
Primary nominating petitions due (municipal and county offices)	March 29, 2027	Before 4:00 p.m. on the 71st day before the June 8, 2027 primary, N.J.S.A. 19:23-14; computed from statute, confirm on the Division's 2027 timeline.
Municipal clerks certify candidates to county clerk	April 8, 2027	Noon on the 61st day before the primary, N.J.S.A. 19:23-14.
Nonpartisan municipal election (Faulkner Act towns that vote in May)	May 11, 2027	Second Tuesday in May, N.J.S.A. 40:45-7; petition deadline set through the municipal clerk.
Voter registration deadline, primary	May 18, 2027	21 days before the election, N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.
Primary election; independent petitions due 4:00 p.m.	June 8, 2027	Tuesday after the first Monday in June (N.J.S.A. 19:2-1); early voting June 1 to June 6.
School board petitions due (November school elections)	July 26, 2027	4:00 p.m. on the last Monday in July, filed with the county clerk, N.J.S.A. 19:60-7.
Voter registration deadline, general election	October 12, 2027	21 days before the election, N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.
General election	November 2, 2027	Tuesday after the first Monday in November (N.J.S.A. 19:2-3); early voting October 23 to October 31, 2027.

P.L.2025, c.32 (approved March 6, 2025) requires office-block primary ballots with a single position draw per office, allows candidates for the same multi-seat office to share a slogan, and ended county-line bracketing. The Division's Primary Election Ballot Design Guide (April 2025) shows the layouts county clerks must use.

Campaign finance rules in New Jersey

State-level campaign finance in New Jersey is overseen by New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Where local candidates file: Every candidate, including borough council, township committee, school board, and county commissioner, files with ELEC in Trenton, not with the county or municipal clerk. N.J.S.A. 19:44A-8 requires a candidate committee (or joint candidates committee) to file its certificate of organization with ELEC no later than the day it first receives a contribution or makes an expenditure. Low-dollar campaigns may use ELEC's short form (Form A-1) instead of full quarterly reporting; check the current threshold on ELEC's site because it is inflation-adjusted.

Contribution limits: One limit applies to every non-gubernatorial candidate, from borough council to state senate. For 2025 and 2026 a candidate committee may accept $5,500 per election from an individual, corporation, union, association, or group, and $17,300 per election from another candidate committee, political committee, continuing political committee, or national party (ELEC press release, January 2, 2025, under N.J.S.A. 19:44A-11.3). County, municipal, and state party committees and legislative leadership committees may give without limit. The primary and general are separate elections, so a donor can give the limit twice in a year. P.L.2023, c.30 requires ELEC to re-index these limits every two years, so expect new figures for 2027.

Reporting: N.J.S.A. 19:44A-16: reports 29 days and 11 days before each election and 20 days after, with quarterly reports in between and 48-hour notices for large late contributions. ELEC posts the dated schedule each year on its reporting-dates page.

ELEC's public website blocks automated readers, so the limits above come from ELEC's own 2025 press release PDF and the statute; open ELEC's current contribution limits chart before you set a fundraising ceiling.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in New Jersey

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. Three ways to vote: nine days of in-person early voting on machines before every general election, no-excuse vote-by-mail issued by the county clerk, and Election Day at the polls. County clerks begin mailing ballots 45 days before the election, so the mail-in electorate starts voting weeks before early voting opens.

Early voting: General election: nine days, from the 10th day before through the 2nd day before (October 23 to October 31, 2027), at 3 to 10 sites per county, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, any site in your county. Non-presidential primary: from the 7th day before through the 2nd day before (June 1 to June 6, 2027), per N.J.S.A. 19:15A-1 as shown on the Division's timeline.
Mail ballots: Any voter may request a mail-in ballot with no reason. County clerks begin mailing 45 days before the election. Applications by mail must arrive at least 7 days before the election; in person at the county clerk until 3:00 p.m. the day before. Return by mail postmarked by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day and received within 6 days, at a county drop box or the board of elections office by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day (N.J.S.A. 19:63-3, 19:63-16, 19:63-22).
Registration deadline: 21 days before the election (N.J.S.A. 19:31-6): May 18, 2027 for the primary and October 12, 2027 for the general. The Division's page states New Jersey does not allow registration on Election Day.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: New Jersey publishes no statewide returned-ballot file, and the state's Track My Ballot portal shows status one voter at a time. The working sources are your county offices: the county clerk keeps the list of mail-in ballots issued, and the county board of elections records ballots received and accepted; both routinely supply these lists to candidates and party chairs on request, updated through the return window. Early voting check-ins run through electronic poll books at the county board. After canvass, every ballot appears in the voting-history field of the county registry list you buy under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1.

Local government in New Jersey: what you can run for

Twenty-one counties, each governed by an elected board of county commissioners, with an elected county clerk, sheriff, and surrogate, and in some counties an elected county executive. Every inch of the state is inside a municipality; municipalities are boroughs, townships, cities, towns, and villages, and many have adopted Faulkner Act plans (mayor-council, council-manager, small municipality, mayor-council-administrator) under N.J.S.A. 40:69A. School districts are separate, with boards of education elected in November or April (N.J.S.A. 19:60-1); fire districts and some special districts elect commissioners on their own dates.

Borough council member
Township committee member
City council member
Mayor
County commissioner
County clerk, sheriff, surrogate
County executive (in counties that elect one)
Board of education member
Fire district commissioner

When local elections happen: Partisan municipal and county offices are elected in November of every year with a June primary; terms are staggered so most councils have seats up every year. Nonpartisan Faulkner Act municipalities vote on the second Tuesday in May (N.J.S.A. 40:45-7) unless they moved to November. School board elections are held with the November general election in districts that moved there, or on the third Tuesday in April otherwise (N.J.S.A. 19:60-1).

The June primary is only for the Democratic and Republican parties under current law; other parties nominate by independent petition due on primary day.

Running your New Jersey campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in New Jersey today. You upload the New Jersey voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your New Jersey campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

New Jersey questions we get asked

When are petitions due to run for borough council or township committee in New Jersey in 2027?

Before 4:00 p.m. on March 29, 2027, the 71st day before the June 8, 2027 primary, at the municipal clerk's office (N.J.S.A. 19:23-14). County office candidates file with the county clerk on the same day. New Jersey charges no filing fee; you need party-member signatures scaled to the town's population under N.J.S.A. 19:23-8. Independent candidates instead file by 4:00 p.m. on primary day.

Who sells the voter file in New Jersey and what does it cost?

Your county commissioner of registration (the superintendent of elections in nine counties, otherwise the county board of elections). N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1 requires the office to furnish the registry list to any voter at the cost of reproduction, capped at $375, with name, address, date of birth, party, and voting history. Phone and email are not included. New Jersey's Division of Elections posts only aggregate statistics, so each county file is the practical source.

What is the contribution limit for a New Jersey municipal candidate?

$5,500 per election from any individual, corporation, union, association, or group, and $17,300 per election from another candidate or political committee, for 2025 and 2026 (ELEC, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-11.3). The primary and general count as separate elections. County, municipal, and state party committees may give without limit. ELEC re-indexes the figures every two years, so check its chart before 2027 fundraising.

Where does a New Jersey school board or council candidate file campaign finance reports?

With the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in Trenton, for every office in New Jersey down to fire district commissioner. You form a candidate or joint candidates committee and file its certificate of organization with ELEC before the first contribution or expenditure (N.J.S.A. 19:44A-8), then file reports 29 and 11 days before each election and 20 days after (N.J.S.A. 19:44A-16). Low-dollar campaigns can use ELEC's short form.

What happened to the county line on New Jersey primary ballots?

It is gone. A federal court found the bracketing system unconstitutional in March 2024, and P.L.2025, c.32, signed March 6, 2025, requires every New Jersey primary ballot to use an office-block layout with a single position draw per office. Candidates can still display a slogan of up to six words and can associate with running mates for the same multi-seat office, but county party endorsement no longer controls where you appear on the ballot.

How does early voting work in New Jersey?

Every county opens 3 to 10 early voting sites for nine days before the general election, from the 10th day before through the Sunday before (October 23 to 31, 2027), and any voter can use any site in the county. Non-presidential primaries get a shorter window from the 7th day before through the 2nd day before. Separately, any New Jersey voter can vote by mail with no excuse; ballots go out 45 days before the election.

How can a New Jersey campaign find out who has already voted by mail?

Ask your county clerk for the list of mail-in ballots issued and your county board of elections for ballots received; New Jersey does not publish a statewide file, and the state's Track My Ballot tool works one voter at a time. Counties supply these lists to candidates and party chairs and refresh them through the return window. After the election, vote history is added to the county registry list sold under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.