Holmdel Election: Recount Will Be Dec. 5

HOLMDEL, NJ — A Monmouth County Superior Court judge approved Prakash Santhana's request for a recount in the Holmdel Township Committee race, and that recount will be held Dec. 5.

Santhana, an Independent, requested the recount on Tuesday of this week, after he lost to Republican rival Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu by a mere three votes, with all mail-in and provisional ballots counted.

As is the protocol, a hearing reviewing Santhana's request was held at the Monmouth County courthouse in Freehold this week; after that hearing Superior Court Judge Katie Gummer ordered the recount. All 8,405 votes in the Holmdel election will be recounted by hand, including mail-in and provisional ballots.

Liu, Santhana and their lawyers can be present at the recount. After the recount, either candidate may “contest" or raise questions regarding the election results.

On the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election night, Santhana was in second place. He and his running mate, Cathy Weber, had run a grassroots, independent campaign against 10-year incumbent Eric Hinds and his running mate Liu.

Together, Weber and Santhana had done the practically unthinkable: Taken on the powerful, deep-pocketed Monmouth County Republican Party — and won. Weber received far and away the most votes on election night. Now — two weeks after the election — Weber is still in the lead, but Liu now received three more votes than Santhana, knocking him into third place.

Liu made gains with mail-in and provisional votes.

"I am thrilled that Cathy Weber was elected to the Homdel Township Committee with the most votes," Santhana said in a statement released on Tuesday.

"However, after more than 2,000 votes were cast for each candidate, only three votes separate second and third place for the second seat. We believe that Holmdel residents deserve to know that the election results are clean and without errors or anything else that could have affected the outcome," he continued.

As of Nov. 22, here are the current vote counts in Holmdel:

• Cathy Weber (Independent): 2,1644
• Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu (Republican): 2,082 votes
• Prakash Santhana (Independent): 2,079
• Eric Hinds (Republican): 2,063 votes
• Write-In: 17

Total votes cast: 8,405