Monmouth County Freeholder candidate Amy Mallet had a 141-vote edge over Republican rival John Curley after a partial count of provisional ballots from the the election two weeks ago, the Asbury Park Press reports today.
About 1,500 additional provisional ballots remain to be counted in a process that’s expected to conclude today, the Press reports.
Before the inclusion of provisional ballots, Mallet, a Democrat from Fair Haven, led Curley, of Middletown, by just 18 votes out of more than 271,000 cast in the Nov. 4 race, the outcome of which will determine which party has the majority on the five-member freeholder board. A Mallet win would give Democrats control for the first time in 23 years.
From the report:
County Democratic organization spokesman Mike Mangan said, “We believed all along that the provisionals would break our way, and that’s coming true. We’re happy about the numbers we’re seeing and happy to see election officials going through the process and making sure every vote that should be counted is being counted.”
Meanwhile, Mark Duffy, spokesman for the Republicans, said some of what he saw during the validation and counting of ballots was “troubling.”
Duffy said electronic scanning of the paper provisional ballots was disorganized, with some ballots landing on the floor; and voting machine data cartridges were stashed unsecured in a hallway of the Board of Elections headquarters.
“We’re not even halfway through provisional vote tallies, and there are some sizable Republican-leaning precincts still to be counted in Wall, Freehold Township and Middletown, to name some,” Duffy said. “But some of the handling procedures are cause for concern.”
Provisional votes from the following municipalities were tallied on Monday: Upper Freehold, Manasquan, Eatontown, Englishtown, Deal, Colts Neck, Brielle, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Avon, Asbury Park, Allentown, Atlantic Highlands, Howell, Farmingdale, Sea Girt and Fair Haven.
Provisional ballots are paper ballots used by voters whose registration records could not be confirmed at the polls.
