Although West Windsor officials knew the election results weren’t in doubt, Mercer County missed its deadline for certification of votes cast on November 7, delaying the swearing in of Will Anklowitz as a council member for three hours, forcing him to sit out of what would have been his first six votes on the governing body.##M:[more]##
Mercer County had until noon on Monday, November 13, to certify all election results, but was held up in counting provisional ballots, according to a county election official. There were 70 provisional ballots. Anklowitz won by nearly 800 votes.
Mercer County called to the township clerk to say the results had been certified at about 9:30 p.m., faxed the certification to the township, and Anklowitz was sworn in at 10 p.m.
Once he was sworn in, Charles Morgan called for an item to be placed on the agenda which would reverse a decision made over the summer to stop recording executive sessions. Council voted 3-2 on July 26 to discontinue that practice, with Barbara Pfeifer, Linda Geevers, and Heidi Kleinman approving the resolution.
Anklowitz was vocal throughout his campaign that this resolution should not have been passed. He said that if given the chance, he would vote to overturn the decision. Council will vote on the motion on Monday, November 20.