MORE ELECTION NIGHT OBSERVATIONS: FROM WRITE-INS TO FEWER SCHOOL BOARD VOTES

Tuesday night's election results saw big victories for Township Committee candidates Greg Lembrich and Nancy Adams, as well as school board victors Chris Sabin, Annemarie Maini and Madhu Pai.

But a few other observations came up. Among them:

* School Board President Wayne Eastman failed to win re-election, marking the first time since 2006 that a sitting board presdient did not retain his or her seat.

* A total of 16,504 votes were cast in the school board race, the lowest since the school board election was switched to November two years ago. In 2013, 21,835 votes were cast, while 20,572 were cast last year. But this year's total is still well above the previous April school board races that saw 11,010 in 2012, 7,486 in 2011, and 6,269 in 2010.

* While Adams and Lembrich won their TC seats handily, there were 138 write-in votes for Township Committee, a sharp increase over previous years that saw just 14 last year, three in 2013, and 23 in 2012. 

Township Clerk Liz Fritzen is still tabulating the write-in vote names, but some are speculating they may include many votes for TC member Jerry Ryan, who lost the Democratic primary to Adams and Lembrich. A Maplewood Online-based campaign was launched last month urging a Ryan write-in campaign.