The three incumbents running for open three-year terms on the Lawrence Township Board of Education won election on Nov. 8.
Patricia “Pepper” Evans, Michelle King, and Amanda Santos, who ran together on the “Building Tomorrow Together” slate, won by an almost 2 to 1 margin. Running against them were Carlos Raziel Rodriguez, Thomas Figueira, and the husband-wife team of Amy Gregory and Nathaniel Gregory.
According to unofficial results as of Nov. 21, King was the top vote-getter with 5,495, followed by Santos with 5,404 and then Evans with 5,299. Getting the next highest total was Figueira with 3,837, Amy Gregory with 2,727, Rodriguez with 2,220 and Nathanael Gregory with 2089.
County wide, more people cast their ballots on election day (60,417) than by early voting and mail (39,413). A total of 42.27% of Mercer County’s 236,158 registered voters cast their ballots this year.
This year’s election was not without its problems, though. An election day glitch throughout all towns in Mercer County delayed tabulation of the results for several days. A problem scanning ballots cast on election day meant that voters had to submit their choices via paper ballots and sharpies. The problem was discovered by poll workers shortly after the poll opened, said Nathaniel Walker, Mercer County Superintendent of elections
According to officials, coding marks printed on the paper ballots was not being accepted by the scanning machines. Officials have called for investigations into the cause of the problem amidst allegations of corruption by some members of the public.
Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello said that she has asked the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office to look into “whether the scanning problem occurred based on an error, or whether something was intentionally done to create chaos and distrust in the election system.”
She added: “We are not suspicious of any specific wrongdoing, but we do need to investigate the matter fully. At the end of the day, as county clerk, I must certify the election results so I have an interest in the integrity of our system.”
County Executive Brian Hughes also called for the matter to be looked into and for changes in the way elections are run in Mercer.
“We’ve got too many people in control and the quality of our elections has suffered as a result, undermining peoples’ faith in the democratic process,” Hughes said.
In Mercer County, there are three separate entities that play a role in elections—the Board of Elections, the Superintendent of Elections and the Office of the County Clerk.
“After issues in the last two elections, I have come to the conclusion that we must fundamentally change the management of the election process in Mercer County because it is clearly not working,” the county executive said.
