The Election by the Numbers

A close look at polling place data from Wednesday's Board of Education election shows voter turnout was high for the township, and that the town was sharply divided on the budget referendum along lines that many predicted ahead of time.

In all, 3,439 people turned out to vote Wednesday in Barnegat, and another 202 voted by mail. That's a voter turnout of 23 percent, according to the Office of the Ocean County Clerk.

Slightly more residents casting ballots than during last year's school election, according to the county clerk's historical data (we're using total votes on the budget as a way to judge previous years' voter turnout).

But 2011 and 2010's numbers appear to be the exception to the rule, at least in recent years. For much of the last decade, turnout didn't climb above 2,500 voters, except during the contentious 2008 election, when this year's incumbents ran for the first time.

Heightened concern over taxes has likely been driving up the number of voters heading to the polls for school races, which historically have much lower turnout than general elections.

John Weingart, the Associate Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, said that school budgets are essentially the only direct vote taxpayers get on what their taxes will be.

“Every other level of government, from the Depart of Defense spending to the municipal government taxes, are out of the hands of the people perhaps most effected by it,” Weingart said.

In districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 11, which are home to more families with children in the school system, the budget got overwhelming support, with "yes" votes outstripping the "no" votes about two to one or more.

(Click the graph in the photo section of this story to view a per-district breakdown of the budget referendum votes.)

District 11 had particularly strong voter turnout, and residents from there voted yes on the budget at a rate of 83 percent.

In many of the senior communities, where the opposition candidates did most of their campaigning, the numbers were essentially reversed on the budget question; in fact, results were even more polarized in the opposite direction.

In District 9, which includes the Pheasant Run development, part of Horizons and Heritage Point North, 85 percent of voters rejected the budget. Districts 8, 10 and 12, which are made up of voters from the Mirage and Heritage Bay communities, responded with similarly high percentages of "no" votes.

District 7 turned out to be a budget battleground – unsurprising, perhaps, given that it draws voters from a mix of family and senior areas. The end tally there was 52 percent in favor to 48 percent against.

Across the board, a vote for the budget didn't necessarily mean a vote for the incumbents, and vice versa. Many residents chose a mixed slate of candidates. It appears voters were most likely to break from the ticket when it came to supporting 19-year-old board appointee Armando Quiroz, who ran to keep the seat he volunteered to fill on the board late last year.

Below is a complete chart of the vote tallies from each district; note that these numbers do not include the 202 mail-in ballots cast in the election. Below the chart, you'll find a description of each of the districts.

• District 1: East of Route 9 to Barnegat Bay and North of East Bay Avenue
• District 2: South of East Bay Avenue, Holly Oaks, Oak Hill Homes
• District 3: West of Barnegat Boulevard, south of Ravenwood Boulevard, east of Deer Run Drive South
• District 4: Part of Settlers Landing
• District 5: Brighton at Barnegat, Pinewood Estates, and off Route 72
• District 6: South of West Bay Avenue, West of Gunning River Road
• District 7: Ocean Acres, Heritage Point South, Horizons, the Windward development and Pine Ridge
• District 8: Four Seasons at Mirage
• District 9: Pheasant Run, Horizons, Heritage Point North
• District 10: Heritage Bay
• District 11: Brookville Manor, Burr Street, Atlantic Heights Apartments, Rose Hill Road and Rosehill Manor
• District 12: Mirage