Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss, for his part, didn’t care to speculate earlier today about the exact specifications of the July 7th elections.

He remained locked in his own unresolved ward contests, with some percolating street allegations of ballot fraud. The mayor estimated the Essex County Board of Elections should bring the contests to a definitive conclusion on Friday – the same rough deadline, incidentally, that Murphy gave for his announcement about the next election.

“We should play it by ear,” said Vauss, leader of Team Irvington Strong. “If we’re still in this COVID-19 crisis the way we are now, I think an all-VBM election is advisable.

“Health,” he added, “absolutely remains our chief concern. It depends on people’s health, first. If we can socially distance in time for the election and the numbers continue to reflect a downward trend, sure, but health is first.”

In terms of the Irvington May 12th election itself, the mayor anticipated wins for his team in battleground races in the South and East wards, where his allies as of yesterday unofficially led their rivals respecitvely 67-32% and 54-45%, according to the clerk’s offfice.