Counties in New Jersey
 |
Top 100 cities by population |
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in the 100 largest cities in America by population and the largest counties that overlap those cities. This encompasses all city, county, judicial, school district, and special district offices appearing on the ballot within those cities. Ballotpedia also covers mayors, city councils, and district attorneys in all state capitals.
This page includes the following resources:
- The county governments covered by Ballotpedia in New Jersey
- A list and map of counties in New Jersey
- An overview of local elections in New Jersey
- An overview of the initiative process in New Jersey
Counties
County government
Click the links below for information about the county governments in Ballotpedia's coverage scope:
Full list of counties
According to a 2022 study from the U.S. Census Bureau, this state's local governments consist of 21 counties, 564 cities, towns, and villages, and 222 special districts.[1]
The following table defaults to displaying only 25 counties at a time. To change the number of counties displayed, use the drop-down menu above the upper left-hand corner of the table. You can also use the search bar above the upper-right corner of the table to look up a specific county.
Map of counties
Counties in blue on the map below are part of Ballotpedia's county coverage scope:
Elections
Click the links below for information about the elections held in each municipality. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of municipalities that held elections each year in this state; click here to learn more about Ballotpedia's local government coverage scope.
2025
- Jersey City, New Jersey - Mayor and city council
- Newark, New Jersey - City council (special)
- Essex County, New Jersey - County clerk
- Hudson County, New Jersey - Sheriff
- New Jersey school board elections
2024
- Trenton, New Jersey - City council
- Essex County, New Jersey - Register of deeds and mortgages and sheriff
- Hudson County, New Jersey - County surrogate
- New Jersey school board elections
2023
- Essex County, New Jersey - Commissioners and surrogate court judge
- Hudson County, New Jersey - County executive and county commission
- New Jersey school board elections
2022
- Newark, New Jersey - Mayor and city council
- Trenton, New Jersey - Mayor and city council
- Essex County, New Jersey - County executive
- Hudson County, New Jersey - County clerk and sheriff
- New Jersey school board elections
2021
- Jersey City, New Jersey - Mayor and city council
- Essex County, New Jersey - County sheriff
- Hudson County, New Jersey - County register
- New Jersey school board elections
2020
- Jersey City, New Jersey - City council (special)
- Essex County, New Jersey - County clerk and board of chosen freeholders
- Hudson County, New Jersey - Board of chosen freeholders
- New Jersey school board elections
Initiative process availability
The local units of government in New Jersey that make the initiative process available are:
- Counties operating under the optional county charter law have state specified initiative and referendum. There are 6 such counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Mercer and Union).
- Municipalities operating under the optional municipal charter law (129) or commission form of government (32) have state specified initiative and referendum procedures. A list of these 161 municipalities is provided below in the external links, "Initiative and Referendum in New Jersey’s Counties and Municipalities."
- 3 of the 11 municipalities with special act charters provide for local initiative and referendum in the charter (Middletown Township, Montville Township, and Plainfield City). These charters were special acts of the legislature.
- In addition, Tenafly Borough, which generally operates under the borough form of government, has provided its voters with the powers of initiative and referendum pursuant to a local law specifically enacted to provide those powers.[2]
See also
| New Jersey | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- New Jersey municipal code library
- New Jersey state government website
Footnotes
| |||||
