BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – Voters here and in Irvington cast 5,171 have so far determined which six of 14 candidates will join their respective boards of education – and may have made history in the process.
The 5,171 in-person and mailed-in ballots for both municipalities, according to essexclerk.com 9:17 p.m. Tuesday are unofficial for more than the traditional reasons.
Although the polling stations and drop boxes had closed at 8 p.m., the Essex County Clerk – Elections Division is accepting Vote By Mail Ballots postmarked Tuesday until April 21. (Good Friday is being observed on April 18.)
There is also the traditional two week pre-certification impoundment period. Candidates and challengers have until April 30 to file recount requests. Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin may certify April 15’s results earlier should there be no questions or recounts.
Essexclerk.com, however, has not posted the number of registered Irvington and Newark voters as of 7:50 a.m. April 16. Nor has the website distilled how many Newark voters were 16-and 17-year-olds voting for the first time.
Public school districts and elected state officials are among those across The Garden State who want to see how Newark’s pioneering teenage suffrage drive turned out.
Newark was granted permission to have 16- and 17- year-olds register for school board elections only over the winter. Newark Public Schools and the Newark Municipal Clerk’s Office have conducted registration drives.
Teenage suffrage advocates said that the younger voters would gain early civic participation by helping to choose the Newark Board of Education members. Greater participation, they added, would boost the so far post-pandemic 3.62 percent voter average rate.
The Essex County Superintendent of Elections office, on April 11, had received 1,772 registration applications from a pool of 7,257 10th and 11th Grade high schoolers. NPS Superintendent of Schools Roger Leon said that he had hoped at having at least 3,000 high school sophomores and juniors registered before the March 25 deadline.
Please note that polling stations were open in Newark on the traditional 7 a.m.-8 p.m. hours. Irvington’s station hours were shorter – 2-8 p.m.
Please note that there are no 2025-26 school year budget referendum questions this year, like last year. The state is allowing those school boards who hold April elections to waive voter budget approvals from now on with a major exception.
The exception is when either the overall budget, or a bond issue or a construction project in question goes over the two percent budget increase cap. If the project exceeds two percent, then the question goes on the ballot.
About the only question in IRVINGTON’s board elections is who among “The Children’s Team” will get the most votes.
Board Vice President Janelle Lowery was the night’s top vote-getter with 595 votes for 34.88 percent.
Board member Joseph Sylvain was also re-elected with 561 or 32.88 percent. Newcomer Joel Wananaker rounded out the balloted field with 550 or 32.44.
All three, barring any so far unannounced write-in votes, ran unopposed.
In NEWARK, a majority of voters swept in the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” trio for an eighth straight school board election.
Kanileah Anderson received her first full three-year term with 2,874 or 22.11 percent. Anderson was first appointed and then elected to fill an unexpired seat.
Board Member David I. Daughety was also returned with 2,290 or 18.94. Voters also helped newcomer Louis Maisonave, Jr. fill the last available seat with 22,248 or 18.59.
Daughety and Maisonave are succeeding outgoing members Daniel Gonzalez and Crystal Williams.
The heavily-supported and endorsed trio left the other eight candidates scrambling for three- digit vote counts and single-digit percentages – including the challenging “Prioritizing Newark’s Children” team.
Ade Kamil Kelly was either the top PNC vote-getter or “the best of the rest.” The second-time candidate was ranked fourth at 995 or 7.80.
Teammate Nathanel Barthelemy placed fifth at 780 or 6.45. Colleague Shana Melius placed sixth at 764 or 6.32.
The remaining balloted field – no write-in results have been released as of 7:30 a.m. April 16 – were all independent solo runners.
Voters placed Yolanda Johnson seventh at 650 or 5.38. Latoya “I Got You” Jackson was next at 626 or 5.18. Elaine Asyah Aquil, who ran under her “All Kids Matter” banner, placed ninth at 550 or 4.55.
Jordy Nivar was placed 10th at 367 or 3.03. DeWayne Bush completed the balloted field at 189 or 1.56.
The June 10 major party primary elections are next up on the “Local Talk” election calendar – with the May 13 nonpartisan municipal elections being bypassed in “Local Talk” land this year.
The South Orange Village Council has exercised its option over the winter to move their traditional nonpartisan election day date to the Nov. 4. General Election ballot and for another nine years.
