More NJ School Districts Hold November Elections [AUDIO]

Residents in many Jersey towns will have another choice to make when they enter the voting booth next week as more school districts are moving their elections to November.

The New Jersey School Board Association finds 501 school districts will have elections for board candidates on their ballot on November 5th.

Thirty-four communities decided to make the switch to a November election this year, leaving only 40 districts still going to the polls in April.

"Paterson in Passaic County was one of the most recent to move to a December election," said Jeanette Rundquist, Communications Officer with the NJSBA.

A total of 1,853 candidates are running for election to school boards, with 1,501 total seats up for grabs.

In January 2012, a new law allowed local school boards to move annual elections from April to November, a move billed as a way to increase participation in school board elections.

Along with the change in voting date, boards holding November elections do not submit their school budgets to voters, as long as the spending plan remains at or below the state's two-percent tax levy cap.