All incumbents running in municipal and school races won re-election in this year’s election on Nov. 8.
According to unofficial results as of Nov. 21, in the race for mayor, incumbent Democrat Bert Steinmann easily won re-election to his fourth four-year term over Republican Ron Prykanowski by a wide margin—7,546 to 3,064.
Steinmann is the longest-serving mayor in Ewing history, since the township instituted the mayor-council form of government in 1994.
The mayor’s Democratic running mates—incumbents Kathleen Wollert and Sarah Steward—also outpaced Republican challengers Colleen DiPastina and William Andres for two open four year terms on the township council.
Steward was the top vote getter with 7,548, followed by Wollert with 7,421, DiPastina with 2,987 and Andres with 2,911.
In the race for three open three-year terms on the Ewing Township Board of Education, incumbents Daniel Angebranndt, Nicole N.W. Harris and Michael Miller defeated their challengers—the husband-wife team of Crystal Fedeli and Kurtis Warner.
Harris received the most votes with 5,598, followed by Miller with 4,767 and Angebranndt with 4,630. Bringing up the rear were Fedeli with 3,123 and Warner with 2,368.
County wide, more people cast their ballots on election day (60,417) than by early voting and mail (39,413). A total of 42.27% of Mercer County’s 236,158 registered voters cast their ballots this year.
This year’s election was not without its problems, though. An election day glitch throughout all towns in Mercer County delayed tabulation of the results for several days. A problem scanning ballots cast on election day meant that voters had to submit their choices via paper ballots and sharpies. The problem was discovered by poll workers shortly after the poll opened, said Nathaniel Walker, Mercer County Superintendent of elections
According to officials, coding marks printed on the paper ballots was not being accepted by the scanning machines. Officials have called for investigations into the cause of the problem amidst allegations of corruption by some members of the public.
Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello said that she has asked the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office to look into “whether the scanning problem occurred based on an error, or whether something was intentionally done to create chaos and distrust in the election system.”
She added: “We are not suspicious of any specific wrongdoing, but we do need to investigate the matter fully. At the end of the day, as county clerk, I must certify the election results so I have an interest in the integrity of our system.”
County Executive Brian Hughes also called for the matter to be looked into and for changes in the way elections are run in Mercer.
“We’ve got too many people in control and the quality of our elections has suffered as a result, undermining peoples’ faith in the democratic process,” Hughes said.
In Mercer County, there are three separate entities that play a role in elections—the Board of Elections, the Superintendent of Elections and the Office of the County Clerk.
“After issues in the last two elections, I have come to the conclusion that we must fundamentally change the management of the election process in Mercer County because it is clearly not working,” the county executive said.
Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann,
