State Superior Court Judge Yolando Ciccone on Tuesday afternoon upheld the county's certification of Priti Shah as the winner of a seat on Board of Education, confirming a 1,193 to 1,191 vote count that negates a request for a special run-off election by former board member Bev Cwerner. Cwerner, through her attorney, Kevin Orr, had argued that the County Board of Elections had "erroneously" rejected two absentee votes on the basis that the signatures on those votes didn't match the signatures on those residents' voter registrations. With affidavits provided by the two voters that indeed they …
An attorney for former school board member Bev Cwerner, who has mounted a court challenge to the disqualification of two votes and is seeking a special runoff election with new board member Priti Shah, said attorneys for both candidates will argue the issue at 2 p.m. in state Superior Court in Somerville. The case, which will be open to the public, had been scheduled for 9 a.m. but an attorney representing Shah, Linda Warshaw, had requested that the time be moved to 2 p.m., said Kevin Orr, Cwerner's attorney. Judge Yolanda Ciccone had agreed to the later time, Orr said in an email on Monday …
Former school board member Bev Cwerner, whose two-vote loss to candidate Priti Shah was again certified in a recount on May 19 at the county Board of Elections Office, will seek to challenge the disqualification of two votes in court, her attorney announced on Friday evening. If a state Superior Court hearing upholds Cwerner's contention that two absentee votes were "erroneously" rejected as valid by the Board of Elections, then the election would be tied, and a runoff election between the two candidates should be scheduled, attorney Kevin Orr said in an email sent to the Basking Ridge Patch…
A recount is scheduled to be held Thursday for votes cast in the April 27 election that placed Priti Shah just two votes ahead ahead of Beverly Cwerner, an incumbent, for a three-year seat on the Board of Education.The recount will be held as a result of a decision earlier in the day by Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone in Somerville, according to an employee with the Somerset County Board of Elections. A recount of votes cast in voting machines will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Hillsborough, but a final vote of mail-in and provisional votes is scheduled for noon on Thursday at the Board of …
A Superior Court judge in Somerset County has set a May 18 court date to discuss whether a vote recount should be conducted for the April 27 school election results tallied for Priti Shah and Beverly Cwerner, according to the county clerk and administrator for the Board of Elections. Cwerner, who apparently lost a third available seat on the Board of Education by just two votes, on Thursday night said she wants to guarantee that the count was accurate, especially since the total shifted three times. The latest tally, reported on the school website, put Shah as the winner with 1,193 votes, …
With the spread now narrowed to a two-vote difference, school board incumbent Beverly Cwerner said on Thursday she is considering asking for a vote recount of results that led the county clerk's office on Monday to certify Priti Shah as the third winner in last Wednesday's school election. The school district website now puts Shah as the winner with 1,193 votes, compared with 1,191 for Cwerner. Two other candidates, incumbent Susan McGowan and Linda Wooldridge, were decisively elected to two of the three available board seats with 1,712 and 1,419 votes respectively. The proposed tax levy to …
Candidate Priti Shah said on Monday night she is "cautiously optimistic" about the outcome of a final vote count by the county Board of Elections Monday afternoon that certified her as the winner of a third seat on the Board of Education, putting her at four votes ahead of incumbent Beverly Cwerner.Both Shah and the county said that Cwerner has the option of calling for a vote recount in such a close ballot outcome. Cwerner could not be reached on Monday by email or phone. Shah's certification as winner, unless contested, would result in her being sworn onto the school board on May 9, along …
Candidate Priti Shah has been certified as the winner of a seat on the Board of Education, along with incumbent Susan McGowan and candidate Linda Wooldridge, a representative for the Somerset County Clerk's office said on Monday afternoon. The certification followed a count of 119 provisional ballots from last Wednesday's school election. According to the county clerk's office, the final count showed 1,190 votes for Shah, and 1,186 votes for incumbent Beverly Darvin Cwerner, now placed as fourth in a nine-way race for three board seat. An unofficial count after last Wednesday's school …
The unofficial vote count tallied after Wednesday's school election showed decisive approval of the 2011-12 school budget and the two top candidates, but the final outcome for the candidate who will hold the third place on the school board awaits a count of provisional ballots cast for Beverly Cwerner and Priti Shah. According to the county Board of Election office, those provisional ballots — some of which may need to be verified as legitimate — are expected to be added to the final vote count on Monday. Township Clerk Denise Szabo estimated on Wednesday that approximately 119 votes fall …
A steady stream of voters — whether young mothers pushing baby carriages, parents with older children in tow, older couples or the after-work crowd dressed in business suits — hit the polls on Wednesday to vote for or against funding this year's school budget. Voters also had a choice among nine candidates, including two incumbents, seeking election to three seats on the Board of Education. Polls will remain open until 9 p.m. Districts may have been shifted for some voters, and residents are asked to check sample ballots mailed to their homes before arriving at their usual voting locations. …
Polls will be open from 2 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday for the 2011 school election. This year, voters will have an opportunity to select three new board members from among nine candidates. The positions available are three-year seats. Also on the ballot will be listed the tax levy to fund the proposed 2011-12 school budget. The figure that voters will see is $74,368,937, which would be taxpayers' contribution toward a total proposed budget of $89,591,507, including debt service. Taxpayers also will pick up a $5.8 million debt service payment toward previously approved projects, but they do not …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election. The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club. The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That …
