YORK, Maine — The “no” vote on Question 2 on the school budget ballot again prevailed during a recount of the May 21 town election Tuesday.
The final recount total, based on hand-counting of all ballots, was 1,754 in favor and 1,789 opposed — more than the tally on May 21 of 1,768 in favor and 1,797 opposed. No ballots were disputed.
The recount occurred without those who supported Question 2 on hand.
When voting got underway at 9 a.m., about a dozen people representing those who voted against the measure were in attendance. Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski last week had invited representatives from both sides of the issue to be present to count and certify the ballots.
But Susan Christmas, who has been representing a group who supported the measure, said she was uncomfortable being involved in the process, and told her group she had decided not to participate. She said Monday morning that she did not discourage others from being involved, however.
But that didn’t dissuade the people who did come to conduct the recount from expressing their dissatisfaction with the fact that the supporters of the question, having petitioned for the recount, did not participate in it.
“I think it’s outrageous that the people who asked for it are not here,” said David Chase.
“It seems like a serious irresponsibility,” said Robert Gordon.
At issue is the fact that there is no clear path in state law for a recount of a municipal ballot initiative. Szeniawski spoke with both the Secretary of State’s office and the town attorney to determine the process to be used Monday.
The state recommended that the town follow the procedure for a disputed candidate recount. Under that process, counters from each side count the ballots, and sign their name to a certification form. When all the tallying was done, a representative from each side – acting in the same role as a candidate — would be asked to verify the results of the recount by checking off one of two boxes.
The first indicates they agree to the count and “further agree that the ballots included in the final count is not enough to affect the results of the election.” The second states that they agree to the count but that the number of disputed ballots “is enough to affect the results of the election” and that there may be further legal challenge.
Ted Little of the No on 2 campaign agreed to be the “candidate” for that group; but Christmas said that she felt she was being required to “sign off legally way beyond my power and responsibilities. As one person, I can’t agree for the whole town that this is final,” she said.
At the library Tuesday morning, Szeniawski said she spoke with the town attorney on Monday, who counseled her that she was not legally required to have counters from both sides, so counters were chosen from among those who were at the library.
Among them was former selectman Mary Andrews, who made clear at the start that “I’m not necessarily here because I voted no. I’m here for the process. If the yes people had called me, I would be here, too.”
Christmas said she was also concerned that the recount might be viewed, at least by the town, as some final arbiter of what caused the voting irregularity to begin with.
Question 2 asked if voters wanted to keep the school budget validation “town meeting” (yes) or return to the town charter form of budgeting [no]. The no votes prevailed by a vote of 1,797 to 1,768.
The problem arose because the single-sheet school budget validation ballot was inadvertently left out of 100 absentee ballot packages. Szeniawski said she was able to account for all but 22 of the sheets, fewer than the 29-vote difference.
Christmas said she asked Szeniawski to leave out the check box portion of the recount, especially as the state does not have a clear process for this kind of recount.
But she said she has a bigger concern that once these tallies are completed on Tuesday, “the presentation to the pubic is that we’re all set. It doesn’t answer the question of the discrepancy [of the 22 voters].”
Christmas said she would never turn around and dispute the results of today’s tally. She said the recount is a “good first step” but said an independent investigation is needed to review what happened.
“The integrity of the voting process is paramount. And, in this case, the results have a very dramatic impact on the future of our school budget,” she said.