Politics & Government

Third BOE Seat May Come Down to Provision Ballots

Challenger Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad remains ahead of David Giles by just 24 votes.

The third seat on the South Orange and Maplewood Board of Education remains too close to call as the County gets ready to tally the provisional ballots.

Preliminary results place StephanieLawson-Muhammad ahead of David Giles by just 24 votes, which include election day votes and main-in ballots, but not provisional ballots.

According to the latest results from the Essex County Clerk's Office, Giles received 3,780 votes on Election Day and 260 mail-in votes, totaling 4,040. Lawson-Muhammad received 3,854 votes at the polls and 210 in mail-in votes with a total of 4,064 votes.

Find out what's happening in South Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

County officials will determine which provisional ballots are eligible, and if more than 24 are eligible, it may be enough to swing the election. According to County officials, the results will not be made official until Monday, Nov. 11.

Preliminary numbers posted by the Essex County Clerk's Office were clear that incumbent Board of Education President Beth Daugherty and newcomer Johanna Wright won two of the three available seats on the Board.

Find out what's happening in South Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Daugherty had the most votes with 5,481 while Wright came in second with 4,790. Marian Cutler received 3,224 There were also 93 Write-in votes.

The following are unofficial results from the Essex County Clerk's Office and do not reflect provisional ballots.


Maplewood

Daugherty 3,381

Wright 2,559

Giles 2,433

Lawson-Muhammad 2,439

Cutler 1,845

Write-In 37

South Orange

Daugherty 2,100

Wright 2,231

Giles 1,607

Lawson-Muhammad 1,625

Cutler 1,379

Write-In 56

Grand Total

Daugherty 5,481

Wright 4,790

Giles 4,040

Lawson-Muhammad 4,064

Cutler 3,224

Write-In 93


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here