Ray Lamboy, Chesterfield
To the editor:
As a resident of Chesterfield, it’s good to see neighboring Bordentown engaged in a vigorous campaign for Township Committee. There’s a war of ideas between the competing candidates, and voters have a meaningful choice to make on Nov. 4.
Here in Chesterfield, however, we seem to be stuck in a permanent ceasefire: for the second year in a row, only one person is on the ballot for the three-member Township Committee. This year the default-vote goes to Republican Committeeman Lawrence Durr; last year it went to Democratic Committeeman Brian Kelly. The lack of competitive elections is a bipartisan problem in need of a non-partisan solution.
Fortunately, this year’s election won’t be totally unopposed. When new resident Melissa Hoffmann learned about the state of our local electoral process, she volunteered to run as a write-in candidate to give voters in a choice in Chesterfield.
A healthy democracy depends in part on competitive elections and meaningful choices. Why should people bother to vote if there’s only one candidate to choose from?
Any write-in candidate is a long-shot to win. But winning isn’t everything, and thanks to Melissa Hoffmann, this year’s election won’t be such a meaningless exercise. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll actually have two candidates on the ballot for Township Committee. Imagine that, a competitive election.

