Livingston Deputy Mayor Ketan Bhuptani has taken a 7-vote lead in his bid for renomination over Laurie Kahn after additional votes were counted from Tuesday’s Democratic primary
Kahn had led by three votes, 1,631 to 1,628, going into today. The new tally has Bhuptani with 1,715 and Kahn with 1,708 – 87 more votes for the incumbent and 77 more for the challenger, Khan.
Still uncounted are 99 provisional ballots cast at polling locations on Election Day, or at early voting centers between May 26-31. That number is down from 116 after election officials disqualified seventeen provisionals. Of the 99 that remain, 84 were cast by voters who requested vote-by-mail ballots but never returned them.
All 152 mail-in ballots have been counted. A final batch could arrive on Monday if it is postmarked by 8 PM on June 2.
The new vote total includes Election Day results from Livingston’s 15th district, which had been omitted from Tuesday’s tally. Kahn led Bhuptani in this district by six votes in in-person voting on Tuesday, 20-14.
After the polls closed on Tuesday. Kahn had led Bhuptani, 682-423, among vote-by-mail ballots. After the remaining 152 VBMs were counted today,
Edward Meinhardt, a three-term incumbent, increased his position as the top vote-getter from 1,838 to 1,920, and the tally for Stacey Abenstein, who has secured the second of the three township council seats, moved up from 1,729 to 1,815.
