A view down Broad Street from 2012.  (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Three years after its selection by Smithsonian Magazine as the third-best small town in America, Red Bank is on a ballot seeking to identify America’s “best town ever.”

By “ever,” Outside magazine means “this year.” And among the “towns” the borough is  competing against are New York, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. But still.

In choosing the 64 towns in the running for this year’s “best town ever,” the magazine says it “looked for places with great access to trails and public lands, thriving restaurants and neighborhoods, and, of course, a good beer scene – all while excluding the winners and runners-up from the past three years to make room for hidden gems, underdogs, and towns on the rise.”

In the first of five rounds of voting, each of which lasts five days, readers are asked to choose either Red Bank or Northampton, Massachusetts. Balloting began Monday, and the winners will advance until only two towns remain on May 29. The overall winner will be the town with the most votes on June 5.

As of early Tuesday morning, Red Bank was getting trounced by a margin of more than 3 to 1. But still.

Ballot stuffing, er, voting, is done here.