BOE Election Stunner: Fuller Lost to Weisert by Four Votes

As last night's Board of Education election results came in, BOE Vice President Shane Berger said, “It's a tight race for third place.”  He wasn't kidding.  The final tally was: Kent Weisert - 1,022; Diana Fuller - 1,018.

Weisert won his seat on the board by just four votes.

School Administrator Michael Derderian and Berger tabulated the totals as they came in Tuesday night but on Wednesday morning, both expressed surprise by how close the race proved to be.

"Last night we had [Weisert] winning by 33," said an astonished Berger on Wednesday.  "Maybe it was the provisionals."

Derderian agreed. 

"Provisional votes are when someone shows up to cast a ballot but their name isn't on the list [at the polling place]," he told Patch.  "The results are then sent to the county clerk's office.  We don't have access to them."

The provisional votes were apparently what made the difference Tuesday night.

"Unbelievable," said Derderian. 

The official results provided by the Essex County Clerk's office were as follows:

The Building Excellent Schools Together ("Best") Team of Mary Shaughnessy, Kent Weisert and Dan Anderson won and the 2012-13 school budget passed.