Observers in all Ocean City voting wards are reporting steady traffic at the polls Tuesday at levels exceeded only in presidential election years.
Ocean City voters today (May 13) are participating in a municipal election that will choose a mayor and three members of City Council.
A morning cloudburst was the only interruption to clear and warm weather for voters going to the polls, which will remain open until 8 p.m. (See polling places.)
With electronic balloting, unofficial results are expected to be posted between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
- Check for full breaking news coverage here on OCNJDaily.com
- See results on the Ocean City Election Results page on CapeMayCountyVotes.com
- Look for results as they are tabulated on the city’s website election page at ocnj.us/election
- Look for results on public access Channel 97 (Comcast Cable)
The deadline for receipt of vote-by-mail ballots (increasingly popular in recent elections) was 3 p.m. Monday, and unofficial tallies are expected to be available with the unofficial ballot tallies released on Tuesday night.
The last municipal election in Ocean City (which rejected a BYOB initiative and elected four ward councilmen) saw about 54 percent of Ocean City’s then 9,122 registered voters go to the polls. Ocean City has 9,033 registered voters eligible to vote in this election, according to the Cape May County Elections Department.
The ballot pits incumbent Mayor Jay Gillian against Ed Price in the race for mayor. Mike Hyson, Pete Madden and Eric Sauder are challenging incumbent Councilmen Mike Allegretto and Keith Hartzell in a race for three at-large seats on council.
Gillian said Tuesday morning that he and his wife, Michele, planned to vote at 4 p.m. in their Third Ward polling place at Wesley Manor.
The rest of his day will be spent trying to “get out as much vote as we can,” Gillian said.
He plans to gather with campaign supporters at the Flanders Hotel tonight after the election.
Like Gillian, Price said he plans to spend the day on the phone and online getting people out to vote. He cast his own ballot in the morning and plans to be at the Ocean Reef community clubhouse in his neighborhood after the election.
Hyson and his wife, Bonnie, voted at the Ocean City Sports and Civic Center this morning. He said he’ll head over to City Hall, where results will be posted in a new first-floor common area as they are tabulated.
Hyson said he stopped at a couple polling places to check voter turnout. Beyond that, he said he’s “riding around and seeing who’s swiping my signs.”
Madden appeared calm on election morning.
“Game day should be the easiest thing,” he said. “The game is the easiest thing if you practice right.”
Allegretto stopped to vote before taking his daughter to school. He said he’ll be at City Hall to hear election results, then at the Flanders.
Look for complete coverage of election results here on OCNJ Daily tonight.
