Around Brick: School Board Election, Coronavirus Updates

BRICK, NJ — Ballots continue to be verified and counted in Ocean County, and that has left some local election results up in the air, five days after Election Day.

The wait for election results has extended for several days in part because the 2020 general election was conducted primarily by mail in New Jersey amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Ocean County released the tallies of more than 250,000 ballots on Election Night, but election workers have had to count more than 75,000 ballots since then.

According to the unofficial tallies through Sunday, 326,053 ballots had been counted; mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3 have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to arrive to be counted, and at that time, provisional ballots will be counted. It's unclear how many provisional ballots were cast in Ocean County. Read more: Ocean County Ballot Count Inches Forward, 17K Still Be Tallied

In Brick, there have been 42,305 ballots recorded in Brick out of 57,124 registered voters in the township.

Among the five candidates in the race for two, three-year terms on the Brick Township Board of Education, Missy Parker continues to lead with 12,807 votes, a lead of more than 600 votes. The fight for the second seat is between incumbent Jessica Clayton and newcomer Michael Blandina, with Clayton leading by five votes, 12,164 to 12,159 as of Sunday. Micah Bender has 11,456 votes, and Melissa Lozada has 9,437 votes.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Republican David Richter closed the gap between him and incumbent Democrat Andy Kim by about 2,000 votes after Ocean County's Saturday vote update. Kim leads 202,051 to 171,240 for Richter as of Sunday, a difference of 30,811 votes. But Burlington County election workers were not counting ballots over the weekend, and as of Friday they had nearly 35,000 ballots countywide to count, beginning Monday. Read more: Richter Trims Kim's Lead In NJ's 3rd Congressional District

Kim has not claimed victory, and Richter has not conceded, inspite of the declaration on Election Night by the Associated Press that Kim had won.

Also, see how Brick voted on the state's question seeking voter approval of legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults 21 and older: How Brick Voted On NJ's Marijuana Question

Coronavirus update

Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have continued to rise in New Jersey, with the state recording five straight days of 2,000 new cases or more statewide. On Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced 3,207 new cases, and on Sunday, there were 2,043 new cases.

Ocean County remains a focus of attention, which it has been since cases started spiking in the county in September. After several days of fewer than 100 new cases, the county announced 150 new ones on Saturday. On Sunday, there were 72 new cases, giving the county 17,535 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March. Of those, 2,625 people have been hospitalized, and there have been 1,011 people who have died, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

Brick Township has seen an increase of more than 100 cases since Oct. 28, rising from 1,676 to 1,796 cases as of Sunday, according to the county health department. There have been 149 Brick residents who have died, but none since at least Oct. 28.

The increase in cases has Murphy considering some restrictions, he said Thursday. Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ 'Close' To Ordering New COVID-19 Restrictions

In the schools

Brick Township students return to classes Monday after a week off, and district officials had urged parents and staff to be mindful of coronavirus quarantine restrictions during the week off. The district is planning to transition to four days of in-person instruction beginning Nov. 16. The youngest students are scheduled to transition first, with the rest of the grades shifting to four days by the end of November. Read more: Brick Schools Plan Transition To 4 In-Person Days Of School

Around town

The Brick Township Council meets Tuesday and is scheduled to have a final reading on a proposed ordinance that would ban short-term rentals in some parts of the township. The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. and can be watched via Zoom; instructions are on the council agenda. Read more: Brick Proposes Limits On Short-Term Rentals

On Wednesday, the township will hold its annual Veterans Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. at the municipal building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road. Township offices are closed for the federal holiday.

• Also: Brick CPA, 2 Others Charged In $1.5M Theft From Elderly Patients
• Brick Woman Dies In Manchester Crash

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