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Unseated Board of Education member Barbara Lesinski said she will challenge the final Nov. 3 election vote counts that now places her behind newcomer Sheila Etienne.

“Today was the first step in the County’s job in certifying the votes,” she said. “Now it is up to me to decide what I want to do.”

Etienne moved five votes ahead of incumbent Lesinski who led by nine votes prior to the counting of provisional ballots.

“With five votes between myself and the third place individual and with the enormous amount of provisional ballots that came out of our city, it leaves me to question whether all of them meet the standards necessary to be counted,” Lesinski said.

Provisional ballots are for a voter whose eligibility to vote is unclear. If the Monmouth County Board of Elections determines a voter is eligible, their provisional ballot is opened. Asbury Park had a total of 64 provisional ballots – 17 were voided and 47 were added to count.

Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon said recounts are expected in tight races like this.

“Most candidates file for a recount when the difference in votes are 10 and under,” Hanlon said.

“While machine counts never change because of their accuracy, where you could pick up or lose votes are in the recount of vote-by-mail and provisional ballots,” she said.

Those changes could be due to someone not filling out bubble all the way, she said.

Hanlon said a candidate has until Nov. 18 to file for a recount. Once the filing is made, a judge determines a date for the recount.

Kenneth E. Saunders, current Vice President Christian Hall, who lost his seat, and Etienne ran as a team. They were opposed by former Board of Education member Angela Ahbez-Anderson, who came in first in the vote count, Lesinski and former Asbury Park School District educator Peter Cheney.

The unofficial results prior to this morning’s provisional count included mail-in ballots. Below is a breakdown of those votes, the updated figures and the difference, per the county clerk’s office:

Angela Anderson                              673                        687                         14

Kenneth E. Saunders, Jr.                656                         676                         20

Sheila Etienne                                   630                         655                         25

Barbara Lesinski                               639                         650                        11

Christian Hall                                     614                        636                         22

Peter J. Cheney                                  591                        600                          9

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