By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
ROBBINSVILLE Residents interested in running for one of the three Township Council seats up for grabs in the May 10 election can pick up a nominating petition beginning this week at the municipal clerk’s office.
The council terms of David Boyne, Chris Ciaccio and Rich Levesque expire on June 30 and all three incumbents said last week that they intend to seek re-election to a new four-year term.
Residents interested in tossing their hat into the ring as well must obtain the signatures of at least 1 percent of Robbinsville’s registered voters on nominating petitions in order to have their name placed on the municipal election ballot. Since there were 8,539 registered township voters in the last general election, this means 85 signatures are required on a nominating petition.
Municipal Clerk Michele Seigfried says potential candidates should try to obtain more than the minimum 85 signatures in case some petition-signers are later disqualified. Petitions can be rejected if they contain signatures of people who are not Robbinsville residents or not registered to vote, if they contain duplicate signatures from the same person, or if they are not filled out correctly.
All nominating petitions must be returned to the municipal clerk’s office at 1 Washington Blvd. by 4 p.m. on March 14.
Robbinsville switched in 2005 to a mayor-council form of government that holds nonpartisan municipal elections, in which candidates are nominated by petition and run without Democratic or Republican party labels, every two years. Three council seats are open this year and two are up for grabs in 2013 when the mayor’s term expires as well.
Municipal candidates who are elected in May are sworn in to office at the Township Council’s annual reorganization meeting July 1.
Under the old township committee form of government, Republican and Democratic municipal candidates were chosen in their respective political party’s primaries in June. The nominees then faced off in the November general election.
A 2010 state law allows nonpartisan municipal elections to be moved from May to November in order to coincide with the general election for other county, state and federal offices. The law, which is intended to save municipalities the cost of holding separate May elections, requires that the candidates running in the nonpartisan municipal races be listed in a separate place on the general election ballot not the Republican and Democratic party columns.
Two months ago, Robbinsville Township Council President Sheree McGowan proposed an ordinance to move the township’s nonpartisan municipal election to November as the new state law allows. Ms. McGowan said the municipal clerk had estimated the move would save Robbinsville $28,000.
The council, however, was divided on the matter and the ordinance was never introduced. Councilmen Levesque and Boyne argued that holding both partisan and nonpartisan elections at the same time would invite greater interference in local elections from county and state political bosses. Councilwoman Ciaccio said that she would rather see residents make the decision by referendum on whether to move the municipal election date.
If in the future the township does change the election date as state law allows, the terms of officeholders up for election in that year would be extended until Dec. 31 so they would run in the November general election instead.
April 19 is the last day to register to vote in the May election, Ms. Seigfried said.
Residents interested in running for Township Council can obtain more information, as well as the petition packet, from Municipal Clerk Michele Seigfried at 609-918-0002.

