Acting Governor Sheila Oliver has signed an Executive Order which will push back the Manchester mayoral election by a week, from December 6th to December 13th.

The order, which affects all runoff elections in the state resulting from the November 8th general election, is due to the voting machine issues in Mercer County.

“As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, it is imperative that we give our elections officials – who have been working around the clock – the necessary time they need to effectively gather election day materials and ballots,” Oliver said in a statement.

“We want to make sure every voter’s voice is heard, whether that be from in-person voting or vote-by-mail. Postponing the run-off elections will allow election officials to receive ballots and count them all before the certification date and will allow voters to vote in the manner they choose, including by mail,” she added.

Oliver was serving as acting governor because Governor Murphy was out of the state.

The order was issued primarily due to the counting issues in Mercer County, which is affecting the counting in the Trenton council races, some of which are still extremely close, as voting continues.

Manchester Township will be holding a run-off election for mayor as well as two township council seats, after none of the candidates reached a majority of the vote in the November 8th election.

Incumbent Mayor Robert Hudak will face Robert Arace in the mayoral run-off.

Hudak received 7,778 votes while Arace received 5,455.

In Manchester Township, to win local races, a candidate must receive 50 percent of the vote plus one.

Based on the 17,594 ballots cast, the majority threshold would have required 8,798 votes in the mayoral race.