HOLMDEL – In a surprising twist in the township’s local election, a Dec. 5 recount has revealed that Independent candidates Cathy Weber and Prakash Santhana were the top vote-getters in November’s election, clearing the way for them to join the Holmdel Township Committee in the new year.
Before the recount, it appeared that first-time Republican candidate Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu had won the seat on the dais alongside Weber.
In the Nov. 5 election, voters were asked to select two members for the governing body.
Official results after Election Day showed that Liu had beaten Santhana by three votes. Due to the tight margin, the Independent candidates asked for a recount.
“Based on past recounts that I’ve seen, the results usually don’t change,” Santhana told The Two River Times after the recount results came in. “We have to obviously thank our supporters, not only in the regular election process but in the recount process. I’m definitely thrilled with the support.”
Official tallies after the recount put Santhana in the lead by two votes over Liu. Weber now has 2,170 votes, followed by Santhana with 2,087, Liu with 2,085, and Mayor Eric Hinds with 2,066.
Liu declined to comment on the situation.
Kin Gee, Santhana’s campaign manager, described the scene at the recount as quiet and intense. County commissioners responsible for recounting votes require complete silence during the process so as to not make a mistake, especially considering it’s all done by hand.
“With all the technological advancement we still go back to pen and pencil,” said Gee.
Aside from commissioners and board of election staff, there were eight people present for the recount, Gee recalled. That included an attorney for Liu, a representative of the Monmouth County Republican Committee, Santhana, his attorney, Gee and a few additional campaign staff members. Once the final tallies were counted, results were read aloud by the county administration. Liu’s and Santhana’s teams were able to independently confirm the count as well.
This is the first time in 25 years that Independent candidates have had a seat at the table in Holmdel, Gee said. It took a lot of effort to get this far. The candidates visited neighborhoods, made themselves available to the public and listened to residents’ biggest concerns.
“We try to get to the issues and have frequent and constant engagement,” said Gee. “Very early on we identify what are the issues that we want to focus on, what residents should be concerned about, and a lot had to do with integrity and transparency.”
Gee has led efforts to make a change in his community through Residents Against Giant Electric (RAGE) and Consumers Helping Affect Regulation of Gas & Electric (CHARGE), even when the odds were stacked against them. In this election, Gee advised that if people truly believe in a cause, they should pursue it regardless of any politics behind it.
“Even though the odds were clearly against Independents, we believed that was the right thing,” he said.
According to Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon, there are three offices involved in the election process in Monmouth County. The Superintendent of Elections Office is responsible for counting out provisional ballots and determining whether or not the sender is eligible to vote in the county, without opening the envelopes. The office counted over 3,000 provisional ballots this election season.
Election officials indicate their findings on the outside of the ballot envelope. Those findings are then given to the Monmouth County Board of Elections for counting. The board makes the final determination on whether or not the ballot is valid and decides what will be counted and what will be voided. The board of elections also counted late mail-in ballots both on Election Day and Friday, Nov. 8, and made determinations of write-in candidates.
All the while, the clerk’s office waits for results and then posts them to the monmouthcountyvotes.com website.
When recounts are called for, the Monmouth County Board of Elections manually rechecks and recounts the late mail-in ballots and provisionals, and reviews machine tapes from the voting booths Nov. 5. Robin Major, the administrator at the board of elections, said the time it takes to complete a recount can vary, depending on how many districts are involved in the town.
HINDS FILES SUIT
Mayor Eric Hinds, who was seeking re-election to the township committee, faced censure in a 3-1 vote by elected officials at the Oct. 22 meeting, which he did not attend. The mayor was accused of misdirecting taxpayer money to bring a turf field project to the Holmdel Swim Club without township committee approval.
In response, Hinds directed his attorney Lawrence Luttrell to file a lawsuit Dec. 5 against Holmdel Township. It states that the censure was made “for alleged conduct which is based on one or more false allegations that (Hinds) ‘violated the Township of Holmdel Ethical Standards’” by “diverting public funds.”
The lawsuit also states that per the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), municipalities must notify residents of meetings at least 48 hours in advance and must post the meeting agenda. The lawsuit alleges that the resolution for the censure Oct. 22, Resolution 2019-322, was not listed on the agenda “despite the (township committee) knowing in advance of the meeting of this subject matter and the intention to adopt it at said meeting.”
The Two River Times was unable to reach Hinds for comment before press time.
At the Dec. 12 township committee meeting, elected officials agreed to direct the township attorney to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Hinds. Deputy Mayor Mike Nikolis and committeemen Rocco Pascucci, Gregory Buontempo and Tom Critelli voted “yes.” Hinds abstained.
