Melissa Manzano led the eight-candidate race for three Cherry Hill Board of Education seats with 13,767 votes, according to the Camden County Clerk’s unofficial results dated Nov. 4 at 3:52 p.m.

Fellow incumbent Renee Cherfane had 9,432 votes and challenger Darby Malvey had 9,084, putting them in the other two winning positions in that report. The contest was for three three-year terms in the Nov. 3 election. These are preliminary standings, not certified results.

The unofficial count

The county report lists the following candidate totals:

  • Melissa Manzano: 13,767.
  • Renee Cherfane: 9,432.
  • Darby Malvey: 9,084.
  • Harold “Hal” Melleby Jr.: 8,440.
  • Steven Redfearn: 7,203.
  • Anne Einhorn: 6,496.
  • Joseph Lynch: 6,277.
  • Ineda “Corrien” Elmore-Stratton: 6,018.

Malvey led fourth-place Melleby by 644 votes. The report also recorded 423 write-in votes. Because voters could choose up to three candidates, the sum of candidate votes is not a count of individual voters.

The candidates in the top three

Manzano, 42, is a music and theater teacher. In NJ Pen’s pre-election candidate questionnaire, she identified communication, school climate and safety, and equitable access as priorities.

Cherfane, 39, is a nurse educator and a 2005 Cherry Hill High School West graduate. She emphasized residency verification, enrollment differences between schools and careful budgeting.

Malvey, 39, is a certified librarian with 15 years of experience, including work in New Jersey public schools. Her priorities included communication, equitable access and school climate, according to the same questionnaire.

What happens next

The county’s election results page cautions that unofficial totals are incomplete while additional eligible ballots are processed. Its schedule lists mail-ballot updates through Nov. 9, cured-ballot updates through Nov. 14 and provisional-ballot updates through Nov. 17, with certification scheduled for Nov. 18.

The figures above reflect the timestamped Nov. 4 report checked for this article; they may change before certification.