Consolidation's Moment of Truth
Live election coverage tonight on Princeton Community TV and AllPrinceton
Despite predictions of low statewide voter turnout today, Princeton could prove to be the exception, as the stakes on the local ballot are exceptionally high this year.
The most significant outcome of Tuesday’s vote will be whether the Princetons become a single municipality, or whether the Borough and Township continue governing in their separate ways.
Also at stake is the Borough Mayor’s seat, which could be the closest two-party race this Democrat-dominated town has seen in decades.
And for the first time, Princeton residents vote in the Republican-dominated 16th Legislative District, to which this community was redistricted earlier this year. Find out more about the 16th District candidates in this League of Women Voters guide, or watch the televised debate here.
If those aren’t reason enough to cast your ballot, consider the issues that the next generation of Princeton politicians will be tasked with:
- if consolidation passes, merging two governments into one
- negotiating town-gown relations, including PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) at a particularly sensitive time, due in part to financial pressures brought on by the recession, but also…
- resolving the fate of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood
- contending with the departure of the University Medical Center
- taxes, revaluation, and ratables
And of course, there’s always the issue of parking.
The League of Women Voters of the Princeton Area has compiled a summary of Q&A with candidates and analyses of issues on its website.
Wondering where to cast your ballot?
- Princeton residents can enter their address in the NJ Poll Place Search widget.
- Princeton University residences are divided between Borough and Township. Click here for a map of the divisions, with polling places. Click here for a list of which dorm rooms vote where.
Polls are open from 6am to 8pm.
Election results will be updated on the Mercer County section of the NJ.gov site.
Watch live election night coverage on Princeton Community TV from 8pm-10pm. Tune in to Comcast Ch. 30 or Verizon FiOS Ch. 45.
Or watch the PCTV coverage via live video stream on AllPrinceton.com
About the Author
Founder, AllPrinceton
Donna Liu is a digital journalist who has lived in Princeton with her family since 2002. She founded AllPrinceton in 2010 as an online hub for community news and information. At Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, she built UChannel - an online archive of public affairs lectures in academia. Before that she established and managed CNN International's Asia Production Center in Hong Kong.
