Summit Council Vote Totals Updated Again

SUMMIT, NJ — After updating the vote totals in the Nov. 3 general election last Saturday, the Union County Clerk has posted more numbers this week, including in the Summit Common Council race.

Last weekend's update said that 100 percent of districts had reported, but the clerk said this week that those were machine votes, and there might be more mail-in ballots to be counted. Certification of the results is to take place by next Friday.

New numbers were posted on Thursday.

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As of Thursday:

Incumbent Democrat Susan Hairston had a significant lead over her Republican challenger, Eileen Kelly, for the 1st Ward Common Council seat.

• Hairston had 56 percent of the vote, or 3,184. This was down from 61 percent last Saturday.
• Kelly had 2,437 votes, or 43 percent.
• There were four write-in votes.

That race was the only contested race at the local level in Summit.

In the uncontested race for a 2nd Ward council seat, incumbent council president Marjorie Fox, a Democrat, had 4,122 votes. There were 85 write-ins.

How Union County voted: President and marijuana

Tuesday's elections drew 58.4 percent of registered voters in Union County, with 217,616 ballots cast out of 372,854 registered voters.

As of Thursday:

In Union County, 67 percent of the votes, or 143,940, went for President-Elect Joe Biden. Another 31 percent of the votes, or 67,436, were for President Donald Trump. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen won 1,166 votes, and a write-in candidate grabbed 903.

For the vote to legalize marijuana usage, about 68 percent of Union County voters, or 125,611, were in favor. And 59,986 voted no.

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

Here is past Patch coverage of the Summit Common Council and the elections:

• Candidate profiles: Three Summit Council Candidates Vie For Seats in Nov. 3 Election
• July Primary: Summit NJ Primary Election Results
• The first council meeting after the election: Summit Common Council To Meet After Election Day.

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