A ballot initiative to change the form of government in Millburn from partisan to nonpartisan is too close to call, with 1,873 votes cast against the measure and 1,823 for it – a margin of 50 votes.
It’s unclear how many ballots are still uncounted: provisionals, ballot cure letters, late-arriving mail-in ballots, and the final 8 PM collection from secure ballot drop boxes. There are 181 provisional ballots.
If the measure is rejected, Republican incumbents Frank Saccomandi IV, the current mayor, and Ben Stoller, will face Democrats Beth Zall and Bill Brazell in the November general election.
Last November, with bipartisan backing, voters approved a referendum to create a charter study commission by a nearly 2-1 margin, 4,458 to 2,369, 65%-35%.
At the same time, Republicans won control of the five-member township committee when Jamie Serruto ousted incumbent Annette Romano by 140 votes. Another incumbent, Michael Cohen, was re-elected by 26 votes. Along with two Republicans elected in 2023, that gave the GOP a 3-2 majority – their first in over a decade.
Romano was among a group of Democrats who opposed the referendum, believing that her party stood a better chance of regaining control with partisan elections.
In April, the commission unanimously approved a recommendation to move to a nonpartisan Council-Manager system.
If the referendum winds up passing, the new council will be elected this November – effectively negating the results of the June Democratic and Republican primaries – and the new government would begin on January 1, 2027.
The proposal would replace the five-member township committee – a form of government that’s been in place since 1857 – with a seven-member township council, all elected at-large. Partisan elections every year for a three-year term would be replaced by non-partisan contests every other year for a four-year term – four in one cycle and three in the next — also in November. Mayors will still be selected from within the council, and the current plan does not set any parameters for terms beyond one year.
The panel cited certain operational issues with local politics: annual partisan elections meant constant campaigning, instability, and division; and the replacement of a business administrator with a township manager who has greater statutory authority.
Results were updated at 9:03 PM.
