Editing Belleville, New Jersey (section)

==Government==
[[File:Belleville town hall Wash Av cloudy jeh.jpg|thumb|Town hall]]

===Local government===
Belleville is governed within the [[Faulkner Act]], formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the [[Faulkner Act (council–manager)|Council-Manager]] form of New Jersey municipal government. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of a seven-member Township Council, of which the mayor and two members are elected [[at-large]] and one each is chosen from four [[Ward (United States)|wards]], with elections held on a [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]] basis as part of the May municipal election. Members are elected in even-numbered years to serve four-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with the four ward seats up for vote together and the two at-large seats and the mayoral seat up for vote two years later.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 128.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=12 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 12. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2025}}, the mayor of Belleville is Michael A. Melham, whose term of office ends June 30, 2026. Members of the Belleville Township Council are Deputy Mayor Thomas Graziano (at-large; 2026), Vincent Cozzarelli (Ward 3; 2028), Naomy De Peña (at-large; 2026), Diana Sorice Guardabasco (Ward 4; 2028), Tracy Juanita Muldrow (Ward 1; 2028) and Frank Velez III (Ward 2; 2028).<ref name=Directory>[https://www.bellevillenj.org/directory Directory], Township of Belleville. Accessed January 19, 2025.</ref><ref>[https://www.bellevillenj.org/_Content/pdf/budgets/2024-Introduced-Budget.pdf 2024 Municipal Data Sheet], Township of Belleville. Accessed January 19, 2025.</ref><ref name=EssexDirectory>[https://essexcountynj.org/county-directory/ County Directory], [[Essex County, New Jersey]]. Accessed January 19, 2025.</ref><ref name=Essex2024Municipal>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/121184/web.317647/#/summary May Municipal Election May 14, 2024 Official Results], [[Essex County, New Jersey]], May 22, 2024. Accessed July 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Essex2022Municipal>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/112990/web.285569/#/summary Municipal Election May 10, 2022 Official Results], [[Essex County, New Jersey]], updated May 18, 2022. Accessed July 1, 2022.</ref>

The Township Manager is Brian Banda.<ref name=Manager/>

===Federal, state, and county representation===
Belleville is located in the 11th Congressional District<ref name=PCR2022>[https://www.njredistrictingcommission.org/documents/2021/Data2021/Plan%20Components.pdf 2022 Redistricting Plan], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 8, 2022.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 34th state legislative district.<ref>[https://nj1015.com/whats-your-new-nj-legislative-district-20-moved-on-new-map/ Districts by Number for 2023-2031], [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed September 18, 2023.</ref>
[[File:Belleville high fields.jpg|thumb|left|The turf athletics complex at Belleville High School]]
{{NJ Congress 11}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 34}}

{{NJ Essex County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 19,684 registered voters in Belleville, of which 7,241 (36.8%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 2,708 (13.8%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 9,729 (49.4%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 6 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party of the United States|Greens]].<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-essex-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary – Essex], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed November 5, 2012.</ref>
{{PresHead|place=Belleville|source=<ref>{{Cite web |title=NJ DOS - Division of Elections - Election Results Archive |url=https://nj.gov/state/elections/election-information-results.shtml |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=nj.gov}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|6,902|7,525|243|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|5,977|9,538|158|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|4,927|8,234|354|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|4,071|8,031|109|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|5,444|7,475|110|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|5,728|6,046|130|New Jersey}}
|}
In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 65.8% of the vote (8,031 cast), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 33.3% (4,071 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (109 votes), among the 12,956 ballots cast by the township's 20,621 registered voters (745 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 62.8%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-essex.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results – November 6, 2012 – Essex County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-essex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast – November 6, 2012 – General Election Results – Essex County|date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]], Democrat Barack Obama received 56.9% of the vote here (7,475 cast), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]] with 41.4% (5,444 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (110 votes), among the 13,135 ballots cast by the township's 19,378 registered voters, for a turnout of 67.8%.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-essex.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Essex County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed November 5, 2012.</ref> In the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 50.6% of the vote here (6,046 ballots cast), outpolling Republican [[George W. Bush]] with 48.0% (5,728 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (130 votes), among the 11,940 ballots cast by the township's 17,411 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 68.6.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_essex_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Essex County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed November 5, 2012.</ref>

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 53.1% of the vote (3,170 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 45.8% (2,734 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (67 votes), among the 6,050 ballots cast by the township's 20,904 registered voters (79 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 28.9%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-essex.pdf |title=Governor – Essex County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-essex.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast – November 5, 2013 – General Election Results – Essex County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] received 50.7% of the vote here (3,626 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 42.6% (3,041 votes), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 4.6% (329 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (72 votes), among the 7,146 ballots cast by the Township's 19,313 registered voters, yielding a 37.0% turnout.<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-essex.pdf 2009 Governor: Essex County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202084614/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-essex.pdf |date=February 2, 2015 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed November 5, 2012.</ref>