CLIFTON – While the majority of voters are registered Independent, the City showed it favored the Democrats on Election Day.
Thousands flocked to the polls last Tuesday, Nov. 4. Superintendent of Elections for Passaic County, Laura Freytes, said the day brought out a "record turnout" of voters and no voters were turned away.
In Clifton, 71 percent of the City’s 44,903 registered voters cast ballots, approximately 3,500 more than in the 2004 presidential election.
President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden won 17,956 Clifton votes, while the Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin received 12,741 votes.
In the race for the United States Senate seat, Democratic Incumbent Frank Lautenberg garnered 16,798 votes in Clifton, while 10,138 went to Republican candidate Dick Zimmer.
For election to the House of Representatives in the Eighth District, the Democratic Incumbent Bill Pascrell, Jr. garnered 18,943 City votes to Republican newcomer Roland Straten’s 8,553 votes.
City voters also re-elected incumbents Greyson Hannigan and Bruce James, both Democrats, to the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, beating Republican candidates Jerry Holt and Michael Marotta.
The figures for Clifton include 1,105 civilian and 26 military and overseas absentee ballots.
The total number of provisional ballots cast in Passaic County were 6,466, Freytes said, but the office was still checking voter registration records this week to ensure the ballots were legal. The number of provisional ballots cast in Clifton has not been tallied.
Though the primary candidates took the majority of Clifton votes, citizens did not forget the other party candidates on the ballot.
Another 200 votes went to the Independent party candidate for president, Ralph Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez, while 57 voters favored the Libertarian party candidate Bob Barr and running mate Wayne Root. Additionally, 75 votes were write-ins.
Among Senate choices, another 677 votes went to the five other Independent candidates, Jeffrey Boss, Daryl Mikell Brooks, J.M. Carter, Sara Lobman and Jason Scheurer.
For Congress, the only other candidate running against Pascrell and Straten was Libertarian party-pick Derek DeMarco, who received 203 votes.
The contenders for the Passaic County Freeholder Board were opposed by 42 write-in votes.
