By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
With the provisional ballot count completed Wednesday 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 said Thursday he contacted Ms. Dyer to concede.
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 a deficit of 309 votes, according to preliminary results released by the county that gave him 4,717 votes to his opponent’s 5,026.
Provisional ballots are used to allow voters to cast ballots on Election Day even if their eligibility is in question.
A certified count will be released after all county provisional ballots are counted, which may happen as early as today, according to the county clerk’s office.
Ms. Dyer will be sworn in to the position at the committee’s organizational meeting 6 p.m. Jan. 6.
