Recount confirms victory for GOP in Township Committee race.
By: Melissa Edmond
A recount Monday of the Nov. 8 election that separated Democrat Sonya Martin and Republican Lisa Nisivoccia by four votes confirmed the original results of the election with the Republicans winning both of the vacant seats on the Township Committee.
"The results remain the same. There were no changes. The voting machines checked out perfectly. The provisional ballots and absentee ballots remained the same," said Janice Hoffner, administrator of the Somerset County Board of Elections.
Ms. Martin, who had 5,600 votes to Ms. Nisivoccia’s 5,604 votes after 30 provisional ballots were counted by the Somerset County Board of Elections on Nov. 14, had her attorneys file for the recount on Nov. 15.
"The closeness of this election demonstrates the importance of every vote and indicates that there is significant dissatisfaction with township governance," Ms. Martin said. "This election should be a wake-up call for our elected officials that business as usual is not acceptable and that large numbers of Hillsborough’s voters want more accountability and responsiveness from their local government leaders."
Ms. Nisivoccia was not available for comment.
When Ms. Martin filed, she said, she was concerned with the rejection of some provisional and absentee ballots due to procedural matters and signature match as well as the possible inaccuracy of the optical scanner used to count the absentee ballots.
According to the election board, four provisional ballots were rejected by the board and not included in the vote.
Provisional ballots are paper ballots completed by voters when a discrepancy in the voter registration is found. Ballots are also used when an election judge challenges a voter’s registration. The ballots are secured in locked envelopes until they are opened and counted at the county Board of Elections.
Republican Anthony Ferrera, the only incumbent in the race, had 5,669 votes. Democrat Dale Gordon received 5,477 votes.