MADDY VITALE
Talk about a razor thin margin in the hotly contested Ocean City Board of Education race.
As of Wednesday, only four votes separated incumbent school board member Robin Shaffer and challenger Corey Niemiec. Shaffer received 1,416 votes, while Niemiec garnered 1,412 votes on election night Tuesday.
The following day, Niemiec said in an interview that he is still hoping for a win.
“I don’t plan on conceding. I will request a recount,” he said. “There is still a chance I pull this out. It is not over yet.”
Election night, Niemiec and his wife, Alyssa, went to City Hall after the polls closed at 8 p.m. to wait for the vote totals. When he left City Hall a while later, he was winning by two votes, according to the unofficial vote tally in the City Clerk’s Office.
“I don’t understand. There is a difference of six votes. Where did the votes come from and when were they added?” Niemiec asked. “They were added at least an hour and a half after I left City Hall.”
Official election results will not come until Nov. 22, officials said. They will be posted on Capemaycountyvotes.com after the Board of Canvassers meets to certify the election.
Shaffer said he will await the county’s official results.
“I am waiting for the official announcement on the 22nd. It was a tight, hard-fought election,” he said.
Seven candidates were vying for three, three-year seats on the school board. The two clear winners were Michael Allegretto and Jocelyn Palaganas.
Shaffer also sent out congratulations to Allegretto and Palaganas and said he was proud of his running mates “for stepping in and putting themselves out there for the children and families of our great town.”
Niemiec reached out to Cape May County Clerk Rita M. Rothberg on Wednesday.
“I want to find out the process of getting a recount rolling, and I am waiting for her to respond on what that entails,” he said.
Rothberg said Wednesday that the vote totals throughout Cape May County are still unofficial until Nov. 22. The totals Tuesday night are from early voting and mail-in ballots received before the close of polling and votes on Election Day.
Rothberg said that there is a likely reason for the discrepancy Niemiec may be seeing in the vote totals.
“The tallies that we posted to capemaycountyvotes.com included mail-in ballots received by 8 p.m. and early voting on Election Day. That is where you would see them,” she noted of the additional votes.
Rothberg acknowledged it is a close race.
“There are four votes between them. It is a nail-biter,” she said.
She said that she will be speaking with Niemiec to explain the process to him and go over his concerns.
On election night, the unofficial winners for the Ocean City school board were Allegretto, who received 1,985 votes, followed by running mate Palaganas with 1,685 votes. They ran with Niemiec on the platform of “Traditional Family Values.”
After Shaffer’s vote of 1,416, came Niemiec at 1,412 votes.
Shaffer’s running mates Kevin Schaffer and Steve Flogaus received 1,243 and 1,172 votes, respectively. The three candidates ran on the platform of “Conservative Family Values.”
Longtime Board of Education member Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes ran on the platform of “Leadership, Trust, Dependability.” She received 1,005 votes and finished last.
Some of the factors that could change vote totals prior to Nov. 22 are the counting of provisional ballots, Rothberg said.
According to the county website, Capemaycountyvotes.com, unofficial results don’t include provisional ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, but not received.
Timely mail-in ballots and provisional ballots received by Nov. 13 will be included in an updated tally Nov. 20 after the Nov. 18 deadline for responses to cure letters has passed.
Mail-in ballot voters who have not completed or signed their certification envelope are sent cure letters from the Board of Elections informing them of the defect.
“I don’t expect to know about any more votes until next Tuesday,” Rothberg said of updated figures that would be released on the county website. “These unofficial votes (from Tuesday) do not include provisional ballots.”
