The Eatontown Republican Party will request a recount of votes in the close Borough Council race, which saw the tallies for three candidates within 1 percent.
Eatontown GOP chairman Richard Robinson confirmed that the party would petition the county to recount the ballots.
According to the official Monmouth County election results, which were certified Nov. 10, 16 votes separate Democrat Councilman-elect Meir Araman and Republican incumbent Mark Van Wagner.
Araman received 1,649 votes and Van Wagner received 1,633.
Republican incumbent Teresa Forbes came in two votes behind Van Wagner with 1,633
Democratic challenger Jennifer Piazza was the clear council winner with 1,773 votes.
To request a recount, the GOP must first file the request with a county-level judge, according to Robin Major of the Monmouth County Board of Elections office.
Once approved, the judge would serve the appropriate county departments with a court order to recount the ballots.
For the recount itself, the election machines’ cartridges will be opened for a readout of all votes cast, said Major. Those numbers will be added to a hand recount of all the paper ballots from the election, she said.
Provisional ballots are ballots that are cast when the legitimacy of a vote is questioned. In these cases, the votes are cast on a paper ballot, and the county later checks them to ensure they are legal votes. The most common example is when a voter is not listed in the registry.
Currently, the council has five Republicans and one Democrat, with Mayor Gerald Tarantolo as the tie-breaker.
If the Democrat numbers hold, in January the council will be split: three Democrats, three Republicans. Tarantolo retains his tie-breaking Democrat vote, giving his party a majority.
If the recount overturns Araman’s victory, the Republicans will maintain council control with a 4-2 majority.
Parties have until Nov. 17 to petition the county for a recount.