Schools
Under 15% of Voters Cast Ballots in School Election
Fewer than 2,000 voters came to the polls.
The revealed Wednesday that only 14.21 percent of eligible voters from and cast ballots in the school election Tuesday.
In 2011, cast ballots in the school election. That year, the budget passed with 66.62 percent of the vote, despite a controversial construction proposal that expanded the parking lot at .
Looking a year further back, as voter turn-out falls, the margin by which the budget passes rises. In 2010, , and the budget passed by 58 percent.
Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Assistant Superintendent Michael LaSusa said the district "will analyze turnout post-election and see if there's anything we can glean from the numbers."
Polls Mail-In Total Number Total Percentage Chatham Borough Thomas Belding 611 0611 Write-Ins 11 0 11 Yes on Budget 589 8 597 62.71% No on Budget 351 4 355 37.29% Total Number of People who Voted 940 12 952 Number of Eligible Voters 5,862 -- 5,862 Percentage of Eligibles who Voted 16.04% 0.2%
16.24% Chatham Township Lata Kenney 700 18 718 Albert Burgunder 651 15 666 Write-Ins
0 Yes on Budget 709 22 731 82.81% No on Budget 272 1 273 27.19% Total Number of People who Voted 962 23 985 Number of Eligible Voters 7,525 -- 7,525 Percentage of Eligibles who Voted 12.78% 0.31% 13.09% Totals Yes on Budget 1,298 30 1,328 67.89% No on Budget 623 5 628 32.11% Total Number of People who Voted 1,902 35 1,937 Number of Eligible Voters 13,387 13,387 Percentage of Eligibles who Voted 14.21% 0.26% 14.21%
Overall in New Jersey, 90 percent of school budgets were approved, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA). Of the 70 districts, including the , which held elections on school budgets Tuesday, 63 budgets passed.
Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In 2011, the NJSBA said, 79.7 percent of the 583 proposed school budgets passed statewide.
Throughout the state, only 73 districts held elections Tuesday. The rest, 468 districts in all, opted to move their elections to November, under the state law passed earlier this year.
When the Board of Education held a public hearing on whether to move school elections to November, the .
Besides school budgets, 318 candidates ran for an available 221 positions on Boards of Education throughout the state, according to the NJSBA. Forty-five percent of the candidates, including all three who ran in the Chathams—Tom Belding, Lata Kenney and Al Burgunder—were incumbents.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
