Schools

School Elections, the Morning: Everyone Should Vote

Check back all day as we provide updates on the school board elections.

With today, and the polls open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Bridgewater Patch is traveling around town to get residents' thoughts on why everyone should participate in the vote—and the opinion is very strongly weighed in favor of just getting your voice heard.

"One of the biggest things my wife says is that we always think you have no right to complain if you don't vote," said Bridgewater resident Grant Tormey, one of many who filed into in the early morning to cast his vote. "If you have kids in the school system, this is a way to voice your opinion both positive and negative."

Residents are being asked to vote yes or no on the approved $129 million school budget, as well as for two Bridgewater residents to represent Bridgewater on the board of education and one Raritan resident to represent the borough.

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After a peculiar 2010 school election that brought out thousands more people than would normally be expected to vote, the focus is on how many people will turn out today.

"Last year was peculiar, and turnout is usually low," Tormey said. "It is unfortunate that even with a vote of that nature last year, we only had about 9,000 votes."

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"And I think the vote will be light this year," he added.

Tormey, a stay-at-home dad with children in the district, said he wanted to make sure to come out and support the incumbents in the election, as well as the budget itself.

"I voted yes to the budget, and I think the board has been prudent with its choices," he said. "I support the administration."

Incumbent Arvind Mathur, who voted at Crim Primary School, said a light turnout is typical of the township, with people coming to vote either before work in the morning, or when they return in the evening.

And by about 9:30 a.m., 55 people had already voted in one of the districts represented at Crim Primary.

"I think when there is something controversial, people vote," Mathur said. "When we have a high turnout, we have concerned voters."

Mathur said it is often found that the more voters there are, the more likely the budget will pass—except, of course, for in 2010.

"And to me, the budget passing is more important than being elected because the budget impacts every teacher in the district," he said. "People have been pleased that the budget is only up 0.6 percent. We are trying to only do things that are essential."

Incumbent Evan Lerner, who found himself at the polls at at 7:30 a.m., said that last year was an aberration in terms of the vote, but that the district usually sees about 3,500 to 6,000 voters over the course of the day.

And Lerner said he has also found that people are speaking positively about this year's budget.

"The school is a high portion of real estate tax, and this is the only time residents have input on that," he said. "There is not the same kind of input on the municipal budget."

Lerner said this election is equally interesting because there are contested races both in Bridgewater and Raritan for representation on the board of education.

"This election, more so than many, is more of a thumbs up or down to how you think the schools are doing," he said. "New candidates are saying we need change, and incumbents are saying look at what we've done."

It seems, Lerner said, that voters need to determine whether they are currently happy with the school district or if they would like to see some change.

Mathur said that one of the most important issues that has come out of the election has been the labor contracts, which are currently still in negotiations.

"Do we continue on the path we are on, or do we go back?" he said. "But it's the democratic process, and it's up to the voters."

Bridgewater resident Matt Rourke, who was a teacher for five years, said he is disappointed that more people don't vote to provide their thoughts on the district at this time.

"I used to try to get people to vote when I was in high school," he said. "And you tend to find that people who didn't know there was an election will vote no on the budget."

For Bridgewater resident Betty Hutcheon, who took the time to vote at Adamsville Primary, it is discouraging to see that many people only come out to vote when there is something negative in the air.

"The only time people really come out to vote is when they have someone like the governor saying to vote against the budgets," she said. "They never come out for something positive. It's sad."

Linda Helmstetter, of Bridgewater, said it is important to show interest in what is happening in the school district, and the community as a whole.

"Maybe if more people got involved in the schools, they would see all the wonderful things happening in the schools," she said. "You have to decide what is important in the community."

Aita Salasoo, of Bridgewater, said it is important to show support for the budget, as she headed toward Crim Primary to cast her vote.

"I am sure there is a correlation with people voting who have school-age children," she said. "And there is always something to be done to get people to vote—I'm just not sure what it is."

Mathur said he is mostly concerned about the budget because of what could happen if it fails.

"We have to be financially and fiscally conservative," he said. "We are doing things with less. But I would hate to have to go to the township council because there will be cuts if we do."

Still, Mathur said, it is a mixed bag of people who vote, as some don't have kids in the district anymore and some do.

"And there are empty nesters who want to preserve real estate," he said. "But we can't afford a tax increase. We have to make sure we don't have runaway taxes."

But for Bridgewater resident Carl Apsley, coming out to vote is just a force of habit, and something he is determined to continue. In his opinion, he said, it might be easiest to just combine the school elections with the November general elections to make it more likely that people will vote.

"How many elections do we need?" he asked. "Just combine them. It's something we could try."

And if that doesn't work, Apsley said, there are other methods that could be tried, particularly in the age of everything digital.

"In this day and age, I don't know if anyone has considered online voting," he said. "There might be problems with identification, but everyone should vote."

"They're spending your money," he added. "This vote is for everyone."

Check back throughout the day as Bridgewater Patch continues traveling to different polling locations to speak with voters, and keep it here this evening, and follow us on Twitter at #BWaterPatch, for live updates on the election results.


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