In a convoluted meeting Friday evening, a new Clifton Select Board candidate was sworn in without every vote being counted.
Two absentee ballots that were found Wednesday after the election results were ratified by the Penobscot County town have still not been counted or opened, and have now been challenged by a resident.
The votes could change the winner of a one-year Select Board seat that was decided by a single vote. Cynthia Grant, a former town manager, was announced as the winner of the seat Wednesday and sworn in Friday after the ballots were challenged, but the two ballots could still elect Steve Armenia to the position.
The Friday meeting was initially called to open and count the two ballots to finalize the election results, but the ballots were ultimately sent to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court without being opened because of a challenge on the residents’ right to vote.
Although many residents said they would, newly-elected Select Board member Greg Newell who ran for a separate three-year seat challenged the right to vote of two residents who voted via the absentee ballots.
Newell challenged the ballots after the town’s attorney, Stephen Wagner, said they were both issued to a candidate up for election, but were cast by the candidate and his wife — breaking a state law that prohibits a candidate from taking out an absentee ballot for anyone but themselves.
Town Clerk Deborah Hodgins confirmed the ballots both had the candidate’s signature on them without opening them.
The information on the outside of the ballots was also filled out incorrectly, Wagner said.
The ballots should not have been issued to the candidate, but they have to be counted under state law because they were accepted by the town and could change the outcome of the election, Wagner said.
Before the ballots were opened, Grant argued they should not have been issued and should not be counted.
“Respectfully, I agree with you, it should not have been issued, but I don’t agree with you that it can be voided and not counted,” Wagner said.
The ballots, along with the other election materials, will be sent to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The court will decide if the ballots should be counted in the election, Wagner said.
Wagner, who repeatedly tried to get residents to not ask questions or give input because it was not an open meeting, even going as far as physically waving off a citizen’s comment, said the initial idea of counting the ballots multiple days after the polls closed was “unprecedented” and not directly laid out under state law.
The ballots went uncounted before election results were announced by the town Wednesday because they were placed in a folder and set down by a ballot clerk, going unnoticed until Thursday morning. Despite residents questioning if the ballots were legally cast or were purposefully not counted, Hodgins said there was no wrongdoing.
The results will remain until the court decides otherwise, Wagner said.
After being sworn in, Grant said she’s “glad the drama is over” despite a possible change in the outcome still looming.
Armenia left the building before Grant was sworn in and said he had no comment on the election or Friday’s meeting.
Clifton residents have already said their town is divided because of political differences between neighbors and Select Board members. During this election, residents made social media posts against candidates and received an anonymous pamphlet advocating against Grant.
Rebecca Vignaly, who unsuccessfully ran for a Select Board position, said the town meeting shadowed this division, with residents splitting into two sections that supported two different candidates.
Vignaly was one of six candidates who ran for open Select Board positions and said the town needs to be less divided after the election.
Of the roughly 30 residents at Friday’s meeting, many were initially unhappy that the votes were going to be counted because Wagner said the ballots were issued illegally.
Despite cones splitting the room in half to ensure no resident saw the names on the ballots, seemingly every resident knew who they belonged to. Through social media, many had figured out who had cast the ballots and which candidate they voted for.
Multiple residents said knowing how someone had voted had taken much of the intended secrecy out of the election process.
Newell said he would have challenged the ballots no matter who they came from or how they voted because they were issued illegally and filled out incorrectly.
The outcome did not matter because he would have been “totally fine” with either candidate winning as long as it was done correctly, he said.
Newell, like many residents, had questions about why the ballots weren’t initially counted, but is now more worried about the outcome of the challenge to ensure each candidate has a fair chance at the seat.
“[Grant] as a candidate is due her process,” he said.