Spirited voting — including write-in votes — took place in Tuesday’s general election in the Lehighton Area School District, where five four-year terms on the board of education were at stake.

There were actually six candidates whose names appeared on the ballots, including four who were on both the Democratic and Republican slates, while 2,281 write-in votes were also received.

The four top winners were the cross-filed candidates, including Wayne W. Wentz, who collected 2,650 votes; Larry E. Stern, 2,457; Rita L. Spinelli, 2,386; and Nathan R. Foeller, 2,343.

That left the fifth spot to be up for grabs between Republican Richard Beltz and Democrat Jack Finnegan. Beltz won that race by a vote of 2,055 to 1,905, however there were 2,281 write-in votes that could impact that race. Beltz and Finnegan were both nominated for a spot on the general election ballot by their respective party committees following the primary election, when Frank Ruch, since deceased, won a spot on both tickets.

The county’s board of elections will canvass the returns starting on Friday before certifying the winners.