Chesterfield Township is governed under the Township form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 565) statewide that use this form, the second-most commonly used form of government in the state. The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle. At a reorganization meeting held in January of each year, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor, which by tradition has the committeeperson serving the last year of term in office chosen to serve as mayor. The Township Committee serves both as the township's executive and legislative body, and derives from the state statutes which delegates powers, prescribe the offices and structure and establish various procedures under which the Township must operate. In the 2013 general election, voters approved an expansion of the Township Committee from three members to five, with three seats up for election in November 2014; the existing seat expiring that year, a new three-year seat and a seat with a two-year term, with the full cycle starting as of the 2015 general election.