NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Didn’t vote in this year’s school board election? Here’s another chance.

Polling hours for the runoff election for a three-year seat on the New Brunswick Public Schools Board of Education are scheduled for 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, according to the district.

The rare special election comes in the wake of a May 12 recount that saw two candidates—20-year incumbent Emra Seawood and challenger Yesenia Medina-Hernandez—tie for third place. The candidates each received 156 votes, according to results provided by Middlesex County’s election division.

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Seawood requested the recount on May 9, a day before the deadline, according to the county and her attorney. The new tally occurred on May 12, which followed the school board’s annual reorganization meeting.

Unofficial results from the April 25 election initially showed that Seawood, who was the board president until last month, lost the race by a single vote.

The recount revealed the presence of a mail-in ballot that wasn’t accounted for in the first tally, officials said. William Northgrave, an attorney who represents Seawood, said that was a paper ballot, which could’ve become stuck to another vote, thus going overlooked by the counting machine.

In an online post, Medina-Hernandez acknowledged the recount as Seawood’s “right” and accepted the updated result and the special election.

Three three-year terms and one one-year term were up for grabs in the 2017 school board election. Incumbents Dale Caldwell and Patricia Valera each won a three-year seat, while Diana Solis claimed victory in an uncontested race for the one-year post, which represents the remainder of a term left vacant after a resignation.



