The Write Stuff: Tomasco Confirmed for Chester Board

Mike Tomasco is the newest member of the Chester Consolidated School Board.

Or was it Mike Tommasco?

Or Tomasko?

Don't ask residents of Chester Borough, who didn't cast enough qualifying votes spelled correctly for the write-in candidate to qualify.

Tomasco isn't a confirmed member-elect according to Chester Borough Clerk Valerie Egan because his name was spelled three different ways, Egan said, and each write-in needs to be treated as a separate candidate. 

"(Tomasco) would have had the required amount (10), but his name was written in three different ways, and we are told to list them as separate candidates," Egan said in an email to Patch. "He would have to take that up with the County."

Fortunately for Tomasco, where he resides in Chester Township he faired better. According to clerk Carol Isemann, Tomasco had more than enough qualifying votes all spelled correctly.

"Usually we can tell what people's intentions are," Isemann said. "And there was no one else even close in comparison."

Laura Roberts, an Election Supervisor at the Morris County Clerk's Office said the Municipal Clerks are required to go over the write-ins and contact the winner.

"In a normal General Election we have 10 days to certify an election and since the Governor has extended the mail in ballot timeframe we will not have final numbers for a little while," Roberts said.

As for those on the ballot in Chester, there were two other candidates for the Chester Consolidated School Board, Christine Hofstetter and Carolyn Kleppe-Collins.

Hofstetter picked up 50 percent of the vote with 1,838 ballots cast for her and Kleppe-Collins grabbed 1,706 votes for 46 percent of the total.