Officials in Monmouth County, New Jersey will recount election results from November races in four towns, after an issue with electronic vote tabulations caused votes to be counted twice — potentially changing the results of one school board race.
Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman authorized recounts in four towns — Belmar, Fair Haven, Ocean Township, and Tinton Falls — county officials said in a statement provided by spokesperson Karla Roth-Bardinas late Thursday night.
The recount and recheck will begin Feb. 8 at the county Board of Elections office in Freehold.
Only one race was close enough that the person originally declared a winner could lose his seat. Official tallies in November gave Steve Clayton a 20-vote win over Jeffrey Weinstein for the Ocean Township school board. But Clayton told the Asbury Park Press informal recounts now show him one vote behind, despite already being sworn in.
The state Division of Civil Rights has also hired a firm to investigate whether anything unlawful happened during the election, and to make recommendations for future election reform. Former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, who served in the role from 2003 to 2006, will oversee the probe.
“The integrity of the voting process remains the top priority of Monmouth County Election Offices, and we are glad the will of the voters will be carried out,” the statement said.
Election Systems and Software — the company of the election machines used in the county — spokesperson Katina Granger told Gothamist recently via email that human error was ultimately to blame for the problem, which affected results in six voting districts spread across the four municipalities. The company’s systems are used broadly nationwide, including in several New Jersey counties.
Granger said a USB drive with results was “loaded twice into the results reporting module.” She said safeguards in its software would still normally prevent votes from being counted twice, but a…
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