Candidate filing deadline for June primary races in N.J. is April 5

Candidates for local, county, and state races who want to run in the June primary as a Democrat or Republican have until 4 p.m. on April 5 to file nominating petitions. Candidates for local office file petitions with their municipal clerks. Candidates for county and state office file petitions with their county clerks.

The Democratic and Republican primary elections will be held on June 8. Residents who want to run as unaffiliated candidates have until 4 p.m. on the primary election day to file nominating petitions with their county clerks.

Two seats for the Princeton Council will be on the ballot in the November general election. Voters will also select county commissioners, state senators and assembly representatives, and a governor.

In early February, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that school board elections for towns that still hold the elections in April each year, fire commissioner elections, and May non-partisan elections all will be held in-person. No decision has been made about a return to in-person voting for the June 8 primary, but Murphy has said he is optimistic that in-person voting will return, especially as more residents get vaccinated and the weather becomes warmer.

Last year, the general election was primarily a vote-by-mail election, with very limited in-person voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If the June primary returns to in-person voting, voters still will have the ability to request a vote-by-mail ballot for any reason. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot for the primary election is June 1.