Council Race Could Be Settled Today

By the end of the day today—nearly two full weeks after the election—Moorestown's town council race could finally be decided.

Following the counting of the absentee ballots—all 1,416 of them—only 12 votes separated Democratic candidate Greg Newcomer and Republican candidate Pete Palko as the third-place vote-getter, behind Republicans Victoria Napolitano and Phil Garwood.

Republican campaign manager Steve Solomon said there are more than 120 provisional ballots that need to be counted. The deadline for provisional ballots to be turned in was Monday (Nov. 19)—the state extended the deadline because of Hurricane Sandy—and Solomon said he was told the county would be tallying them Tuesday.

"We will know by the end of the day (Tuesday) who won," he said.

The Burlington County Republican Committee was supplying challengers to inspect the ballots during the counting process, Solomon explained, though he expressed deep confidence in the ballot counters. 

"These people have been incredible throughout, so I'm fairly confident there won't be a need for a recount," Solomon said.

Township clerk Patricia Hunt provided updated results from the council race, with the absentee ballots included. The results are unofficial until the provisional ballots are counted and certified by the county and state.

The latest results are as follows:

Victoria Napolitano — absentee ballots: 626; total: 5,546
Phil Garwood — absentee: 617; total: 5,435
Greg Newcomer — absentee: 549; total: 5,303
Pete Palko — absentee: 586; total: 5,291
Brian Sattinger — absentee: 481; total: 4,858
Mark Hines — absentee: 497; total: 4,829 

According to an employee in the county's Board of Elections office, absentee ballots for the Moorestown Board of Education race had not yet been counted. 

Assuming the provisional ballots are counted, check back with Moorestown Patch later today to find out (officially) won the town council race.