2022 Election In Manchester: How To Vote, Who's On The Ballot

MANCHESTER, NJ — The 2022 general election is near. Here's a look at your options for voting this year, along with who's on the ballot in Manchester.

In Ocean County that includes voting at a polling location, either during the early voting period, which runs through Nov. 6, or on Election Day, Nov. 8.

If you're among the voters in Ocean County who receive vote-by-mail ballots, you can turn in your ballot at a secure drop box, mail your ballot back or hand-deliver it to your local board of elections. If you mail it back, it must be postmarked by Nov. 8.

There are about 400,000 voters in Ocean County, and the majority will be voting in person. Sample ballots are available online on the Ocean County Clerk's website.

Early voting began Saturday, Oct. 29, and ends Nov. 6, and will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The Rundown

• Election date: Nov. 8
• Where can I drop off my ballot?
• Track my mail-in ballot.
• Where can I vote in person?

What And Who Are On The Ballot?

• U.S. House of Representatives: Manchester will be part of the 4th District when the new Congress is sworn into office in January. The candidates seeking the 4th District seat are Chris Smith, a Republican seeking his 21st term; Democrat Matt Jenkins; Libertarian Jason Cullen; independents Pamela R. Daniels, David Schmidt, and Hank Schroeder.

Patch distributed candidate questionnaires to all six. Jenkins and Daniels responded by Oct. 14. Smith provided a reply on Oct. 31. Here are their profiles:

• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Matthew Jenkins
• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Pamela R. Daniels
• NJ-4 Congressional District Election 2022: Chris Smith

There was a candidates' forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Monmouth County. All but Smith participated. You can read more and find a link to watch it here: 5 Takeaways From NJ 4th District Candidates' Forum

• Ballot questions: There are no statewide ballot questions in New Jersey in 2022.

LOCAL RACES

Ocean County Commissioners: There are two seats up for election. Voters have four candidates to choose from: Virginia "Ginny" Haines and John P. "Jack" Kelly, Republicans; Catherine Paura and Roxanne Barnes, Democrats.

Ocean County Sheriff: Michael Mastronardy, the Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Salvatore Fraschino. The sheriff serves for a three-year term.

Manchester Township mayor and council: There are three candidate slates running for mayor and the two seats on the Township Council. All three seats are four-year terms.

The mayoral candidates are Robert Hudak, Ken Seda and Robert Arace.

Hudak is the incumbent; he defeated Arace in the 2021 election for the final year of the term vacated by now-Judge Ken Palmer. Hudak was elected to the council in 2019

Arace has the backing of George Gilmore, who has regained the chairmanship of the Ocean County Republican Club after being forced to step down in 2019. Gilmore was convicted on federal charges of failing to pay over payroll taxes and fraud on a bank loan application; a pardon issued by then-President Donald Trump meant that Gilmore avoided jail time.

Both Seda and Arace have made misstatements about the potential for homes to be built at the Heritage Minerals site. There is a court settlement from 2004 that the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Pinelands Commission, Manchester officials and Hovsons, the developer that owns the 7,000-acre property signed off on; it will allow Hovsons to build 2,450 homes on the property. A proposal under Palmer's administration would have permitted nearly twice that figure, but the DEP did reject that proposal.

Patch sent questionnaires to all of the mayoral candidates. Here are their responses:

• Manchester Mayoral Election 2022: Robert Hudak
• Manchester Mayoral Election 2022: Ken Seda
• Manchester Mayoral Election 2022: Robert Arace

The council candidates are: Joan Brush, who is an incumbent councilwoman, and Timothy Poss. Brush and Poss are running on the ticket with Hudak. Incumbent Councilman Craig Wallis is not seeking re-

Running with Arace are Joseph T. Hankins and Roxanne Conniff. Hankins ran for council in 2021 but was defeated; Conniff was Arace's campaign manager in 2021.

Running with Seda are Gloria E. Adkinson and Karen Sugden. Adkinson is a retired teacher and Sugden is a financial administrator.

The Manchester Township Board of Education has two full, three-year terms and one unexpired term. Gayle Mount is seeking re-election to a full term; two other candidates who filed petitions have since dropped out of the election race. Gina Georgiano is seeking election to the one-year unexpired term.

Where Can I Vote?

Those looking for a drop box for vote-by-mail ballots can use any in Ocean County. There are drop boxes at the Manchester branch of the Ocean County Library and at the Whiting reading room of the Ocean County Library. They are under surveillance 24/7. The vote-by-mail ballots will be picked up daily and brought to the Board of Elections. All security measures will be followed when collecting and transporting the vote-by-mail ballots, officials said.

Voters wondering how their signatures are checked before the upcoming election can see the process for themselves.

• How Are Election Signatures Verified In NJ? Patch Found Out
• What's A NJ Provisional Ballot? How Does It Work? Patch Found Out
• How To Register, Track Your General Election Vote Online In NJ