Misplaced ballots are now in Grafton election total; town clerk apologizes
We’re gonna need a bigger box.
The gold box outside the Municipal Center, usually used by residents to pay bills when town offices are closed, was apparently part of the issue in the case of the left behind Precinct 2 ballots. With the box filling up several times a day in the lead-up to the June 23 election, voters dropping off their early voting envelopes would simply force their contributions in with the rest.
To make matters more complicated, there is only one key, which is kept in a different office, Town Clerk Kandy Lavallee said. This led to large infusions of ballots at once, especially in the days right before the election. The envelopes were sorted into identical boxes marked by precincts — and all but one made it to the polls to be included in the count.
On Tuesday, 202 uncounted ballots, all from Precinct 2, were discovered in the Town Clerk’s vault, one week after the town election. The sealed ballots were opened Thursday morning after a Superior Court order, in accordance with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office.
While the results have not been posted as of 5 p.m., Lavallee did read aloud the final election results at an emergency Select Board meeting Thursday afternoon, as well as during a public conference later in the afternoon. The additional numbers did not change the outcome of any races (see tally below).
The Select Board approved Lavallee’s request for an audit of the election processes that led to the error. Lavallee herself suggested changes to the system Wednesday in a report outlining how the ballot box went astray.
Grafton is not exactly an outlier. The Secretary of State’s office reassured Lavallee that similar mixups tend to happen about once a year.
The problem now is to get the process more refined before the November presidential election, Select Board Chair Peter Carlson said. The system for absentee ballots as it exists now is not designed for the large number of mail-in ballots created by residents who wanted to avoid COVID-19 exposure at the polls.
And yes, since the system is designed for in-person ballots to be dropped directly at the Town Clerk’s office, which wasn’t open to the public due to the pandemic, this means a bigger mailbox will be requested.
Select Board member Mathew Often added that the town also needs to work more on getting volunteers well before Election Day. Due to COVID-19, many of the usual poll workers declined to work, requiring new workers to be recruited. And a call for volunteers to wipe down polling stations and pens between voters wasn’t sent out until the afternoon before.
The one bright spot in the mixup, Select Board member Edward Prisby said: Lavallee’s immediate handling and reporting of the error confirms that she’s an honest worker.
“This can be treated as a learning experience, we can move on, and we can reassure Grafton residents that their ballots will be counted,” he said.
Early and absentee ballots were coming in through the mail even on election day, Lavallee said later in a short live conference. By law, they can be submitted by 8 p.m., the close of polls. She noted wryly that the town has no control over just when residents decide to mail back their ballots.
“I just want to apologize for what happened,” Lavallee said in her live conference later in the day. “I take full responsibility.”
The results
Select Board
Donna Stock 1,219
Jennifer Thomas 1,111
Mathew Often 2,252
Colleen Roy 2,055
Town Moderator
Daniel Concaugh 1,957
Bruce Spinney 1,356
Question 1
Should the Board of Selectmen be called the Select Board? Already passed by Town Meeting, the vote was a formality.
Yes 2,456
No 936
Question 2
Should Grafton override Proposition 2 1/2?
Yes 1,781
No 1,682
School Committee
Rahul Rathi 2,538 (3 year term)
Elizabeth Spinney 2,429 (1 year term to fill a vacancy)
Planning Board
Linda Hassinger 2,511 (3 year term)
Justin Wood 2,479 (1 year term to fill a vacancy)
Board of Library Trustees (elect 2)
Karen Durand 2,341
Martin Estner 2,135
Housing Authority
Lisa Brovelli-Kelley 2,606
