Holmdel Committeeman Won 2019 Election By 1 Vote, Judge Rules

HOLMDEL, NJ - After more than a year, the results of the 2019 Holmdel Township Committee election may finally be assured after a judge ruled Tuesday that committeeman Prakash Santhana assuredly won the election - by one vote.

State Superior Court Judge Kathleen Sheedy ruled Tuesday that Santhana's opponent (former Board of Education member Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu) who claimed voting irregularities during the 2019 election were not sufficient to change its outcome.

The Nov. 5, 2019 general election saw Santhana initially trailing Republican Cheng Liu by three votes with all mail-in and provisional ballots counted, prompting Santhana, an independent candidate, to request a recount. Santhana was named the certified the winner by Monmouth County election officials and was sworn into the five-member committee in January 2020.

But Liu reportedly filed a petition in state Superior Court in Monmouth County in December 2019, claiming that two votes in her favor were rejected, and that five individuals who had cast ballots for her opponent were not eligible to vote in Holmdel, according to NJ.com.

Sheedy ultimately ruled this week that four of the five votes that Liu questioned were to remain valid, with Santhana still claiming the win by one ballot.

"It is clear from the judge's opinion that this was a baseless lawsuit costing taxpayer money," Santhana said in a statement. "It was unfortunate that legitimate votes were questioned for political reasons. I thank all of my supporters for their help in defending this lawsuit. Now that this is behind us, I can focus on doing great things for Holmdel."