A coalition of Democrats and Republicans in Mount Holly is seeking voter approval to restore runoff elections in non-partisan municipal elections with a referendum on the ballot this November.
When Mount Holly switched from May to November local elections, they – some say inadvertently – eliminated runoffs because the referendum was silent on the matter.
“I can see how people may think that they might have a runoff by virtue of the fact of the long history where they had it from 1954 to 2013,” said Superior Court Judge John Harrington in a rambling decision that followed a December 2024 hearing that lasted parts of four days. “I could see how they would believe that, but the time to deal with all of that was some time ago.’
In New Jersey, some municipalities – like Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken – require runoffs if a candidate receives less than 50% of the vote in a multi-candidate field, but some require just a simple plurality.
Last year, Sayke Reilley, who finished fourth in a field of nine candidates for three seats, claimed that the old runoff law – unused since 1982 – was never repealed. But the winners — Lew Brown, Chris Banks, and Rich DiFolco – argued that it was obsolete.
Harrington determined that runoffs were “extinguished” when Mount Holly briefly experimented with partisan elections eleven years ago.
“Even though that was not appropriately worded, it was given the sanctity of correctness by the passage of time,” Harrington said of the referendum’s verbiage.
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