Vote Counting In Cherry Hill Elections Resumes Wednesday

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The race for three open seats on the Cherry Hill Public School District Board of Education remains undecided as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night, county officials said.

The Camden County Board of Elections will resume its count on Wednesday morning, Camden County Spokesman Dan Keashen said Tuesday night. When counting paused Tuesday night, Miriam Stern, Carol Matlack and Ineda "Corrien" Elmore-Stratton were the leading vote-getters in the five-person field, according to unofficial results posted on the county's website.

Stern lead the way with 14,279 votes, followed by Matlack with 13,027 and Elmore-Stratton with 11,226. John Papeika was fourth with 9,431, followed by Aslihan Cakmak with 7,936.

There were 257 write-in votes, and a total of 56,156 vote-by-mail ballots had been counted. No provisional ballots have been counted as of Tuesday night.

In the special election for an unexpired term on Cherry Hill Township Council, Democrat William Carter III lead Republican Nancy Feller O'Dowd. Carter had 17,809 votes to O'Dowd's 6,909 votes. The winner will immediately be seated to fill the rest of Carolyn Jacobs' term. Carter sits on council after being appointed to the seat earlier this year.

New Jersey Election Updates: Don't miss local, county and statewide announcements about the general election. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

Board Member Matlack and candidates Elmore-Stratton, Cakmak, Papeika and Stern all pursued the open seats on the school board in Tuesday's election. Board Member Eric Goodwin initially filed a petition to run in this year's race, but later dropped out.

"While improving our facilities is the long range focus, the current COVID-19 crisis is our immediate focus," said Matlack, who served on the board since 2010. "Remote learning and safely bringing our staff and students back into the buildings, along with the social and emotional well-being of our students and staff during this crisis, needs to be our focus."

Stratton said the district has to be careful not to let the achievement gap grow during the pandemic.

"In addition, I believe that this awkward learning year has brought on heavy tension between the administration, the staff, and the families, and so I believe there will be a new issue of resetting the culture and tone of the district once we resume our traditional school year of study," Stratton said. "I plan to consistently raise awareness of the need for this negative tension to be addressed and shifted."

Cakmak is a chairperson of the Business and Computer Science Department at Middlesex County College, and said she can bring the experience helping the college reopen to Cherry Hill.

"Because of the early planning and necessary investments in human and technology resources, we started our Fall 2020 seamlessly," Cakmak said. "I would bring my experience and propose to form a committee to work with me. However, we will not be able to assume the board member role before January 2021."

Mental health will be a key to getting through the pandemic, and Stern has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for 25 years.

"I am the only candidate who is an experienced mental health professional with a deep understanding of social-emotional learning and student mental health wellness program development," Stern said. "In 2004, I founded a group counseling practice in Cherry Hill, and now work as both a therapist and administrator of the practice that has grown to have 20 therapists with two locations."

Papeika knows the district will need to find new ways to provide the best possible education, which is one reason he wants to serve on the board.

"Students, parents, teachers, and staff have been through a lot during the last six months," Papeika said. "Schools have had to reinvent the way to educate. I feel that as a member of the Cherry Hill School board, I can help assist our schools set goals to navigate the new ways and to provide the best education while keeping the needs of all residents in mind."

Voting in New Jersey was primarily vote-by-mail, but residents came out to vote in-person on Election Day.

There was a steady stream of voters at Cherry Hill High School East i Camden County between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., but no long lines. Voters had varying views on in-person voting and voting by mail this as opposed to voting in the past.

"It took a little longer this year, but it was easy enough," said David Bross, who said he always intended to vote in-person. "I split my vote between the parties. I'm an independent, right-leaning centrist."

Resident Andrew Athians said he normally knows what to expect when he votes electronically. Receiving a provisional ballot at the polls was knew, and he said he nearly forgot to turn his provisional ballot over. He originally wanted to vote-by-mail, but ultimately decided that voting in person was the best way to go.

"I voted for Biden and all the Democrats," Athians said. "I absolutely was not a fan of Trump when he was running, and I was surprised he was even on the ballot in 2016. I don't like Joe Biden, but I voted for him because I'd rather have someone who shows compassion."

"Everything was perfect," resident Carlos Herrera said. "I don't trust the mail. I never considered voting by mail."

"I've seen stories about ballots being found in empty parking lots, and in storage trucks," said Nathaniel Mellul, who said he considered voting by mail for a time. "I prefer to do things in person. I hope this does this job.I hope my vote gets in correctly."

Other residents told Patch the experience of voting in-person feels "more real," while one resident who identified herself as Anna said voting by mail might have been a better option.

"If I knew what it was going to be like to vote here, I would've voted by mail," she said.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

Read more here: NJ Election 2020: President, Congress, Local Election Results