Surge in Absentee Ballots from Princeton Residents

More than 1,000 Princeton Borough and Princeton Township voters have requested absentee ballots to vote in the general election tomorrow.

Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello said 417 borough voters requested absentee ballots, and 622 township voters requested ballots, for a total of 1,039 ballots for the two Princetons combined.

The number of absentee ballots requested is much higher than usual. The election Tuesday is one of the biggest elections in Princeton in more than a decade. Voters will weigh in on whether the two Princetons should merge, and borough voters will choose a new mayor to replace Mildred Trotman, who decided not to seek reelection.

Democratic candidate Yina Moore will face Republican candidate Jill Jachera, who has run an aggressive campaign in the Democrat-dominated borough.

Information was not available on the breakdown in terms of how many absentee ballots were requested in each district, and a request does not guarantee a person will actually submit the absentee ballot.

The absentee count in elections is usually in the low double digits for the borough and the township.

The last time a large number of absentee voter applications was requested was in 2009, when Princeton University student Mendy Fisch ran in the Democratic primary for Borough Council. Almost 400 people requested absentee ballots for that election, which Fisch lost by a slim margin.