New Brunswick City Council Election Referendum, 2009
A New Brunswick City Council Election Referendum was on the November 3, 2009 ballot in the city of New Brunswick, located in Middlesex County.
If it had been voted into effect, the referendum would have allowed for ward-based city council elections, which residents had hoped to put on the ballot in the previous year. In the last attempt, the city rejected the filed suit and did the same this year when residents circulated a new petition.[1]
The question that appeared on the ballot asked the voters if the number of counselors should be increased to nine members, six voted through their respective wards and three more at large positions. There was a dispute between two interest groups who tried to get a similar petition onto the ballot, but the first one, which appeared on the ballot, won out through a court decision on the matter.[2]
Election result
| New Brunswick City Council Election Referendum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No
|
2135 | 54.88% | ||
| Yes | 1756 | 45.12% | ||
| Total votes | 3891 | 100.00% | ||
| Voter turnout | 0% | |||
Aftermath
A pro-ward coalition for democracy voted to ask the city council to have a recount of the ballots. Statistics about the election showed that permanent residents voted more in favor of keeping the form of government unchanged, whereas college students at Rutgers University voted more in favor of the change. Anti-ward groups used this as a means to show that residents who lived in the city year-round preferred the way the government was in 2009.[4]
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politicker NJ, "Judge clears way for ward system question on New Brunswick's fall ballot," August 10, 2009
- ↑ Daily Targum, "Judge rules in EON’s favor, overturns city clerk decision," September 20, 2009
- ↑ Daily Targum, "Ward question too close to call, results lean toward 'no'," November 4, 2009
- ↑ My Central New Jersey, "Both sides of New Brunswick ward question trying to keep momentum going," November 15, 2009
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