MONTGOMERY: Dyer clinches Township Committee race following provisional ballot count

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   With the provisional ballot count completed today by the Somerset County Board of Elections, Republican Kacey Dyer has clinched her seat on the Township Committee.
   The results leave her opponent, Keith Hovey, short by about 200 votes in a race that Ms. Dyer termed a “referendum on Skillman Village.”
   Mr. Hovey won 187 provisional votes to Ms. Dyer’s 130, Election Board Administrator Jerry Midgette said.
   It was not enough for him to overcome Ms. Dyer’s margin of 309 votes, according to preliminary results released by the county that gave him 4,717 votes to her 5,026.
   Mr. Hovey did not initially concede the race, waiting for the provisional ballots to be counted.
   Provisional ballots are used to allow voters to cast ballots on Election Day even if their eligibility is in question. The county Board of Elections began verifying the ballots last week. A certified count will be released after all county provisional ballots are counted, which may happen as early as the end of this week, according to the county clerk’s office.