Maplewood Vote Totals For Committee, School Board Tallied

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Essex County Clerk posted unofficial results Thursday of the Maplewood elections for Township Committee and the elections for South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education.

Since many of the ballots were mail-in or completed on paper, the final results may not be known until later this month.

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In the uncontested race for two seats on the Maplewood Township Committee, these were the votes tallied as of Tuesday night:

• Victor De Luca, 11,891
• Dean Dafis, 11,804

Both are incumbents.

In Maplewood's form of government, candidates run for Township Committee, and are elected by the public. Then, the committee members choose a mayor and deputy mayor each year from among themselves. See more about that race here.

In the contested race for three South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education seats, the results are:

• Susan Lewis Bergin, 10,654
• Courtney Winkfield, 10,469
• Elissa Malespina, 8,037
• Deborah Engel, 7,960
• Melanie Finnern, 5,623

And for an unexpired one-year term:

• Kamal Zubieta, 11,424

How Essex County voted

In Essex County, 77 percent of the votes totaled by Thursday night were for President-Elect Joe Biden, or 224,615 votes. For President Donald Trump, 63,971 votes were cast, or 22 percent. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen amassed 1,093 votes. Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins drew 806, and other third party candidates drew about 600 votes.

For the state question about legalizing marijuana, 72 percent voted in favor and 28 percent against, or 194,109 votes to 75,952.

For more on the New Jersey totals and public questions, click here.

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

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