Fourteen ballots discovered in Precinct 1 machine after Town Election

Fourteen ballots were discovered inside the Precinct 1 ballot box two days after last week’s Town Election — but the results of the election are unchanged.

The mishap was discovered Thursday morning after a resident noticed the absence of a write-in vote in the unofficial accounting of votes, posted by the Town Clerk’s office Wednesday.

“As soon as we found it, we contacted the Secretary of State’s office and notified (Town Administrator) Evan (Brassard),” Town Clerk Kandy Lavallee said.

Lavallee, who was re-elected last Tuesday, had no involvement at the polls this year due to being on the ballot herself. Upton’s town clerk oversaw the election.

The 14 ballots were, in fact, counted on Election Night, run through the Precinct 1 ballot counter along with the rest of the ballots and set aside, inside the machine, due to the presence of write-in votes. While ballots containing write-ins were removed after the count for tabulation, somehow those 14 ballots remained inside.

It was a faint echo of an error made in the June 2020 election, when 202 absentee and uncounted Town Election ballots were found inside the Town Clerk’s safe a week later. The ballots in that instance were entirely uncounted; the recent error left the final tally of 1,924 ballots, and the official votes, unchanged.

The Secretary of State’s office noted at the time that such an error is not unusual, and Grafton poll workers received additional training.

But on Monday, the yellow caution tape was up again in Conference Room A of the Municipal Center, blocking off public access to a ballot box wheeled in under quiet watch from a police officer.

Fourteen ballots were removed and placed on the desk in front of election workers Nancy Billings and Connie Hawkins, who began reading the write-in votes out loud.

“Select Board Peter Carlson. School Committee 3-Year Terri Turgeon…”

The final tally of new write-in votes:

• Select Board: Peter Carlson
• School Committee 3 Yr : Terri Turgeon (two votes), Garvin Carroll, Mel Brooks
• School Committee 1 yr: Terri Turgeon  (two votes), Liora Bram
• Planning Board Mike Hunt, Chris Lacasse, Mark David, Chris Lemay (two votes), Brooke Padgett
• Board of Library Trustees: Gary Mills, John Beaverton
• Town Clerk Steve Burke

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