An annotated guide to Grafton’s write-in votes in an otherwise dull election

Only 801 voters — 5.8 percent of registered voters according to the official numbers — turned out for Grafton’s Town Election on Saturday and, faced with a slate of uncontested races, a few of them got creative.

Former Select Board member Edward Prisby won votes for every office on the ballot except library trustee. Former President Donald Trump got a vote. Heck, even Dexter slayed in the vote-getting, and he’s a perfectly fictional serial killer who was only in town for a week!

Below is the annotated guide to voters’ frustrations, creative choices, and possible IDs. If I missed an ID, suggest in the comments (politely).

Select Board

WINNER: Raymond Mead (former town moderator, prior selectman) 649

Write ins:

• Edward Prisby (former Select Board member, did not seek re-election also written in as Ed Brisby and Ed Prisby) 10
• Richard Allain (Grafton Fire Department) 4
• Peter Adams (former Selectman) 3
• Brook Padgett (former Selectman also written in as Brook Padgette) 3
• Lisa Kelly (Grafton senior center outreach worker) 2 
• Greg Marr 1 
• Tim Palmer 1 
• John Hall 1  
• Craig Dauphinais (former Selectman) 1
• Jen Thomas 1 (former Select Board member, now on CPC)
• Dan Cusher  (Finance Committee member) 1 
• Bob Eagan 1 
• Shawn Matthews (moderates popular All Things Grafton Facebook group) 1 
• Sargon Hanna (former Select Board member, owns Reunion Tap & Table) 1
• Emily Curewitz 1 
• Joe Featherstone 1 
• Brit Minichello  (runs popular Buy Nothing Grafton Facebook page) 1 
• Hailstone Brown 1 
• Daniel Allain 1

School Committee

WINNERS: Laura I. Often 637 
Elizabeth Anderson Spinney 586

Write-ins:

• Terri Turgeon (former School Committee member, also written is as Terry) 10
• Timothy McInerney (former town administrator, also written in as Tim McInerney) 2
• Edward Prisby (former Select Board member) 8
• Kristen Remillard 2 
• Kevin Brown Jr. 2 
• Tim Collins 1  
• Jill Collins 1  
• Donald Prisby (could possibly be Edward Prisby) 1
• Lisa Rice (school literacy coordinator) 1 
• Lori Trahan 1 
• Jackie McGrail 1 
• Tyler Concough 1 (former Grafton High student rep to School Committee) 
• Robert Foley 1 
• Daniel Fitzgerald 1 
• Donna Stock 1 (former School Committee and Select Board member)
• Brit Manichello (runs popular Buy Nothing Grafton Facebook page) 1 
• Corey M. Williams 1 
• Chris Schonhoff 1 
• Dick Clark 1 (former American Bandstand host, does not live in Grafton, also dead)
• Dexter 1 (fictional character but did appear in Grafton during election season, probably not a good role model for students, does have iron-clad ethics code)

Planning Board

WINNERS: Robert Hassinger (wicked long-time incumbent) 593
Justin B. Wood (OMG, he beat Bob) 618 

Write-ins: 

• Edward Prisby former Select Board member, also served on Planning Board) 2
• Donald Trump  (former President of the United States, not a Grafton resident, blocked from Twitter) 2
• Brian Marino 2 
• Julie Marino 2 
• David Muradian (state representative, kind of busy) 1
• Sean Padgett (owner of Town House Tavern) 1
• Ann Marie Foley (compost enthusiast, runs Green Up Grafton) 1 
• Chris Lemay (former selectman) 1
• Craig Dauphinais (former selectman) 1 
• Ronnie Dennis 1 
• Rocky Star (may reference an Indian fashion designer, a 1950s radio serial, or someone’s dog) 1 
• Bruce Spinney (former Select Board member, also served on Planning Board) 1 

Town Moderator

WINNER: Dawn C. Anderson 663 (will preside over her first Town Meeting Saturday, June 5, 11 a.m. mark your calendars)

Write-ins: 

• Dan Concough (moderator elected in 2020, stepped down before running fall 2020 Town Meeting) 1 
• Bruce Spinney (former Select Board member, ran for moderator in 2020) 3 
• Raymond Mead (also written in as Ray Mead, elected to Select Board in this election) 5 
• Dave Robbins (Planning Board member, frequent deputy moderator) 2
• Ed Prisby (former Select Board member, did not seek re-election but people wrote him in for everything) 2 
• Stephanie Teixeira (elected library trustee, this vote may have missed the correct category) 1 
• Roger Trahan (former moderator, did not seek re-election after presiding over the infamous Grafton High override meeting) 1
• Brook Padgett  (former selectman) 1

Library Trustees

WINNERS: Douglas S. Bowman 591 
Aaron M. Vandesteen 580 
Stephanie M. Teixeira 606 

Write-ins 

• Jeremy Gendon 2
• Michael Foley 2 
• Catherine Depaoll 1
• Dawn Anderson 1 (elected moderator, voter may have gotten confused)
• Carol Roe-Bergeron 1 
• Martina Marndt 1 
• Tim Kay 1 
• Jeffrey Moore 1

Housing Authority

WINNER: James J. Gallagher (seen above getting sworn in by Town Clerk Kandy Lavallee, from his car) 666

Write-ins:

We’re worried about Jim’s total vote count, but no one writes in against Grafton’s GOAT.

Help support Grafton’s only independent source of news with a donation!