In Neptune City, a borough of almost 5,000 people that borders Neptune Township and Avon-by-the-Sea, Democrat Michael Skudera is now ahead of Republican incumbent Richard Pryor in the election for Borough Council.
Four elections in Monmouth County went to a recount. (File photo by Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com).NEPTUNE CITY -- Four elections in Monmouth County went to a recount, but the winner only changed in one of those races.
In Neptune City, a borough of almost 5,000 people that borders Neptune Township and Avon-by-the-Sea, Democrat Michael Skudera is now ahead of Republican incumbent Richard Pryor in the election for Borough Council.
Skudera and Pryor were vying for the second full-term council seat. Andrew Wardell, a Republican, won the first full-term seat.
A spokeswoman for Monmouth County, Laura Kirkpatrick, said the race had been back and forth, with both candidates being in the lead at one point. But Skudera prevailed in a recount on Tuesday by a one-vote margin over Pryor, 602 to 601.
The race in Neptune City was one of the elections the chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats, Vin Gopal, was calling for a recount in. Gopal took issue with what he referred to as a "problematic" election process in the county.
On election night, a representative with Dominion Voting Systems, the county's election software vendor, deleted the vote-by-mail results from the tally for an unknown reason. Additionally, 15 provisional ballots previously voided were accepted after the Board of Elections consulted with the state attorney general's office.
In a recount, the vote-by-mail ballots and provisionals are hand-counted because the machine does not always account for all the votes. For example, if someone puts an "X" instead of where they were supposed to place a check mark, the computer may not register the vote properly.
Vote totals shifted in council elections in Red Bank and Spring Lake Heights, and the Asbury Park Board of Education race, but the winners stayed the same, Kirkpatrick said.
An automatic recount occurred in the Rumson-Fairhaven Regional High School Board of Education race because there were no candidates on the ballot -- only two write-in names who each earned five votes. There will be a special election in that race, but details were not immediately available.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
