Toms River Fire District 1 Run-Off Election: See The Unofficial Results

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Seven months after voters in Toms River First District 1 went to the polls to choose two members of the Board of Commissioners, they were back at the polls on Saturday to decide the run-off election between Anthony Cirz and Michael Hopson.

This time, the election was not close, according to unofficial vote tallies provided by the Ocean County Board of Elections on Saturday night.

Cirz received 837 votes, more than 240 votes ahead of Hopson, who received 591 votes, according to an official at the board of elections. The results remain unofficial until certified.

The county board of elections was overseeing the election because of the controversy that arose in March when the results initially were certified as showing Cirz and Hopson tied for the second seat, then updated to show Cirz as winning 616-615 after a write-in vote for Cirz was added to his total.

Hopson challenged the result in court, and a New Jersey appellate court ruled the write-in vote for Cirz should not have been counted because he was a named candidate on the ballot.

Though Hopson contended the certification with the write-in vote was "malconduct, fraud, and corruption," Judge Craig T. Wellerson ruled "the process was 'faithful' and "abided by certain [principles] of law," the appellate panel ruled.