Township Councilmen Jim Kownacki and Steve Brame appear to be the winners of the hotly con´ tested Township Council election, but the definitive answer may rest on 75 provisional ballots that were cast in T
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Township Councilmen Jim Kownacki and Steve Brame appear to be the winners of the hotly contested Township Council election, but the definitive answer may rest on 75 provisional ballots that were cast in Tuesday’s election.
The two Democrats earned 4,261 votes and 4,343 votes, respectively.
Their Republican Party challengers — Max Ramos and Glenn Collins — received 4,234 votes and 4,194 votes.
Those tallies include absentee or mail-in ballots, but not the provisional ballots.
The provisional ballots, which are cast by registered voters for a variety of reasons — a name change, moving from one election district to another — are expected to be counted Friday, according to Municipal Clerk Kathleen Norcia.
The provisional ballots are important because of the 27-vote difference between Mr. Kownacki, who placed second in the contest for the two seats, and Mr. Ramos, who placed third in the four-man race.
Meanwhile, Rick Miller, who is the chairman of the Lawrence Township Republican Municipal Committee, said the race is “too close to call.”
He has asked for a re-check of the voting machines.
There were problems with two voting machines, he said, adding that Ms. Norcia and Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello have been asked to look into it.
“One voting machine broke down and the other one was very slow. This may have caused emergency ballots to be cast. I believe the emergency ballots are not part of the unofficial total (vote count),” Mr. Miller said.
He is a former township councilman and mayor.
A re-check differs from a recount, said Falk Engel, an attorney and the president of the Lawrence Township Republican Club.
A re-check seeks to re-calculate all of the tallies on the voting machines, plus the mail-in or absentee ballots.
It is less intensive than a recount, he said. A recount is a more formal procedure, which involves a fee to pay for it, Mr. Engel said.
A recount is a complete audit of all the voting machines, plus the provisional and mail-in ballots.
The re- check could begin this week.
The Republicans also are questioning the mail-in ballots because of the disparity between the number of ballots cast for Mr. Kownacki and Mr. Brame, and Mr. Ramos and Mr. Collins.
The two Democratic candidates received 362 votes and 370 votes, respectively, while Mr. Ramos and Mr. Collins each received 231 votes.
Bob Bostock, who is a former Republican township councilman, said the mail-in ballots require scrutiny because of the spread between the Democrats and the Republicans.
Typically, the number ||ýPage=009 Column=003 OK,0001.09þ|| of mail-in ballots mirrors the number of votes cast in the voting booth, he said.
“It is way out of whack,” Mr. Bostock said.
Tuesday night, the Republicans were excited at the prospect of capturing two seats on the five-seat governing body that is completely controlled by the Democratic Party.
Mr. Ramos and Mr. Collins and their supporters had gathered at American Legion Post 414 to wait for the results, and the initial reports showed they were running neck-and-neck with the Democrats.
The crowd let out a cheer when it appeared that the Republicans had won the majority of the 21 election districts.
But that lead dissipated, and it became clear that the election was too close to call for either political party.