As votes are counted, school board names Superintendent Champ clerk pro tem, adds additional election officials

Pelham+Memorial+High+School

Pelham Memorial High School

Pelham Superintendent of Schools Dr. Cheryl Champ was appointed clerk pro tempore and additional election inspectors were named Wednesday afternoon at a special meeting of the board of education.

“As we headed into the election process and ballot counting process last night, we recognized that the volume of ballots and the need to make sure that we very carefully counted every thing, checked all signatures appropriately, was going far more slowly than we had anticipated,” said Champ. She said they had brought in additional staff in the morning and wanted to appoint them in order to allow them to help with the tally.

“The resolution to appoint Dr. Champ clerk pro tempore essentially just makes her the clerk for that particular meeting for the purposes of recording meeting minutes,” said Pelham schools spokesman Alex Wolff in an email. “The District Clerk is still working, but could not attend this particular meeting as she is busy with the election.”

Champ said the district anticipates the vote tallying will carry into tomorrow. Included among those unanimously approved as election inspectors were district staff members Doreen Codella and JoAnn Sannella, teacher Mark Finegan, a current high school student and PTA Council President Beth Blanc.

The district has been certifying and counting the ballots since Tuesday.