Montclair School Board Election Guide: Candidates, Polling Places

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A historic board of education election will take place Tuesday in Montclair. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Montclair voters passed a landmark school referendum in the 2021 general election. The town was one of the last few in New Jersey where mayors appoint members of the local board of education, as opposed to voters electing them. But as a result of last November's referendum, Montclair will now make the switch to an elected school board.

Montclair will hold a special election on March 8 to choose two new members of the board for one-year and nine-month terms. After that, annual contests for three seats will take place every November, beginning this year on Nov. 8, when three seats will be up for grabs.

Recently, the Essex County Clerk's Office released a guide for Montclair voters who want to take part in the upcoming school board elections. It can be seen online here.

CANDIDATES

The candidates in the March 8 election are:

• Yvonne Bouknight
• Melanie Deysher
• Phaedra Dunn
• Jerold Freier
• Noah Gale
• Lauren Q. Griffin
• Holly Shaw
• George C. Simpson
• Jennette L. Williams

The League of Women Voters and the Montclair chapter of the NAACP recently held a virtual candidate forum, which can be seen below, via MontclairTV34.

BALLOT BOXES

The ballot box located at the Municipal Building, 205 Claremont Avenue, will be open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday for those who wish to drop their vote-by-mail ballot there.

POLLING PLACES

Montclair town officials noted that some of the polling places recently seen on paper sample ballot are incorrect.

“The County Board of Elections handles the polling site assignments and has re-mailed poll assignments with the corrections,” Montclair officials said.

• Go here to use the Township’s Interactive Map to find your polling place.
• Download 2021 approved list of polling places.

Montclair officials added:

“The New Jersey Division of Elections website lets you find your Ward, polling place, and voting district information by filling out an online form with your: Street Number, Street Name, City and County or Street Address, Street Name and Zip Code. If an exact match is found in the state's records, you will be provided with your Polling Place, Voting Area District and the County Election Official information. If no match is found, please contact the Municipal Clerk’s Office for polling place location: 973-509-4900.”

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