Cancel that one-vote election win; now it's a tie: By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Writer, The Press: Tuesday night: Thomas Carl leads by three.Wednesday morning: Mary Hunt leads by one. Friday morning: Back to the drawing board. The Atlantic County Board of Elections discovered a clerical error in its absentee-ballot tally for Tuesday's school election in Mullica, and it notified the school system Friday morning. A '4' had been mistyped in school board candidate Carl's row of the absentee-ballot column, instead of the correct '5'. The change has pushed Carl into a tie with school board president Hunt for the third and final open seat, at 233 votes apiece. Carl led Hunt by three after the machine votes were counted, but the original absentee tally late Tuesday night had pushed Hunt in front by one. Both candidates sounded genuinely surprised on the phone Friday. Until he got the news, Carl said, he was planning to attend Monday night's school board meeting to congratulate Hunt on her victory.
"That's amazing," Carl said. "I guess I'm glad I didn't concede. ... I had put this all behind me as of last night and moved on. Now, it opens it back up again." "It's a disappointment. ... It leaves the board in the lurch," Hunt said. Asked whether she'd request a recount, Hunt replied, "At this point, I don't know. I'm going to have to talk to the members of the board, the superintendent and just figure out what I want to do." Incumbent Richard Hahn stands one vote behind Hunt and Carl with 232 votes; incumbent Frank Kelly and Terence Watson won the first two seats comfortably. A provisional ballot added to the vote totals does not affect the outcome; it includes only a vote for Deneen St. Amour, who is not in contention. The results were expected to be certified Friday. School board solicitor William Cappuccio pored through election laws after getting the news, looking to confirm that a runoff election between the tied candidates must be held within 60 days. That would make the deadline Saturday, June 14. Whether or not any candidate seeks one, a recount seems inevitable. "I'm sure now that they have a tie, they'll go through them again to be sure," Cappuccio said of the elections board. A candidate is required to petition a Superior Court judge within 15 days of the election if he or she wants a recount. There is also a mechanism for the school board attorney, Cappuccio in this case, to request a recount. The relevant candidates would be allowed to inspect every facet of a recount, according to election law. An unwelcome facet of a runoff election is the added cost - several thousand dollars for machines, ballots, advertising and the like, Superintendent Rick Goldberg said. "It can be a little pricey, and it's hard on the candidates," Goldberg said. "You just want to move ahead and get on with the work at hand."