Cinnaminson Twp. Committee Election Still Undecided: Here's What's Left

CINNAMINSON, NJ — One week after Election Day, Cinnaminson's Township Committee race remains undecided. But Dr. Corinne Taylor-Walls increased her narrow lead in her bid to become the first Democrat elected to the governing body in recent memory.

Taylor-Walls finished Monday's tally with 3,957 votes, putting her 68 ahead of Republican incumbent Stephanie Kravil (3,889 votes).

Kravil led by 30 votes at the end of Election Day on Nov. 4. But every tally thereafter, which includes daily updates of mail-in ballots received after the election, has been favorable for Taylor-Walls.

On Thursday, Taylor-Walls led by 61 votes. Only 16 ballots have been added to the voting total between then and Monday afternoon.

All results remain unofficial until certified by the Burlington County Clerk's Office.

All five Cinnaminson Township Committee members are Republicans, and it's been that way for quite some time. For much of the 2010s, Cinnaminson's Democratic Party didn't even put up candidates in committee elections. The 2018 election was the first time in seven years that a Democrat ran for the office.

This time around, Kravil and Taylor-Walls have been waiting for remaining election results before declaring victory or bowing out.

What's Left To Count?

The committee election hinges on two things: remaining mail-in ballots and provisional ballots.

Mail-in ballots must be sent before polls close on Election Day. The deadline for election officials to receive them was 8 p.m. Monday — six days after the election.

The Burlington County Clerk's Office, which counts the votes, last updated the tally around 4:30 p.m. Monday. So it's possible that other mail-in ballots will impact the race.

There won't be any election result updates on Tuesday, since it's Veterans Day. So the final count after mail-in ballots would be available Wednesday at the soonest.

If the gap is wide enough by then, the candidates may choose to declare victory or concede. But if it's still too close to decide, it may come down to provisional ballots.

Ninety-eight voters in Cinnaminson cast provisional ballots on Election Day. Election officials must examine them to confirm that each ballot comes from a qualified voter who did not also vote by mail.

Provisional ballots will be regularly added to the results after mail-in ballots are counted. All votes must be tallied by Nov. 19 — the deadline to certify election results — but the election could be certified before then.

Here's Patch's detailed explanation of the timeline.

Here are the latest results (last updated at 4:38 p.m. Monday):

CINNAMINSON TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE (vote for one)

• Corinne Taylor-Walls (D): 3,957
• Stephanie Kravil* (R): 3,889

*denotes incumbent