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Julie Durgin and Ellen Lederer-DeFrancesco were elected to the two open seats on the Sudbury School Committee, despite a strong showing by write-in candidate Jonathan Sullivan.
Unofficial results from the March 30 election showed Lederer-DeFrancesco edging Sullivan by 15 votes, 1,452 to 1,437. Durgin topped the Sudbury School Committee vote total with 1,566 votes. The Sudbury School Committee oversees Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) Pre-K to eighth grade district.
Sudbury Weekly has asked Sullivan if he will file a petition for a recount of the election results, but has not yet heard from him.
Following confusion expressed by observers after the official results were posted, Beth Klein, Town Clerk, said of her actions at the tabulation site, “I just gave him (Sullivan) his numbers. I didn’t know who had won. The numbers I gave him were the unofficial count that’s posted on the website. The numbers on the website are correct and are not likely to change.”
Describing the tabulating process, Klein said the tapes from the tabulation machines showing the machine results are posted shortly after the polls close. Any ballots that the machines couldn’t read, along with ballots with write-in votes, are then counted by election workers and those votes are added to the final tabulation, which is then posted as the unofficial results.
While Klein told Sullivan his final unofficial total after the write-in ballots and the ballots the machines can’t read were counted, she did not tell him that those “unread” ballots had also increased the vote totals of the other two candidates in the race above the totals on the tabulator tapes. Observers at the tabulation session therefore believed Sullivan had defeated Lederer-DeFrancesco when they left the session.
Sullivan “was there the whole time,” Klein said, “I think he didn’t understand what was happening. It was a very close race and he thought he had won.”
Klein said late Tuesday afternoon that the results will become official “as soon as I have reviewed everything, but the totals aren’t likely to change.” She expects the results to be official on Wednesday.
Andy Sheehan, town manager, in a statement at Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting, said the town had consulted Tuesday with attorney Lauren F. Goldberg, president of KP Law, who had reviewed the actions taken and said the town had done everything properly. Goldberg is the law firm’s “point person” on election-related issues and was legal counsel to the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Elections Division, before joining the firm. Sheehan’s statement is expected to be posted on the town website.
The town will also make available information for candidates who wish to petition for a recount.
According to the Secretary of State’s website, candidates who are seeking a recount in a town election must file a petition by 5 p.m. on the tenth day after the election that includes 10 or more signatures from registered voters in each precinct. A recount cannot be held until after that tenth day deadline. Only candidates, not voters, can petition for a recount. Write-in candidates can petition for a recount, Klein said.
All other offices on the ballot were uncontested and those candidates were elected. Vote totals and precinct-by-precinct voting breakdowns are here.
Elected were: Charles Russo for Select Board, Liam Vesely for Board of Assessors, Elizabeth Iwasaki and Ingrid Mayyasi for Goodnow Library Trustee, Susan Sama for Board of Health, Ryan Poteat for Park & Recreation Commissioner, and Julie Perlman for Planning Board.
Ravi Simon and Jason McLure were elected to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee. Their Sudbury vote totals must be added to the totals from Lincoln’s election for a final count.
According to the town website, there were 3,045 votes cast in this election, representing 23.83% of the town’s 12,778 registered voters. That’s up from last year’s election, when 2,398 votes were cast, 17% of the town’s registered voters.
Here are the vote totals for the candidates in uncontested races, in ballot order:
Select Board
Charles Russo 2,250
Board of Assessors
Liam Vesely 2,239
Goodnow Library Trustee
Elizabeth Iwasaki 2,217
Ingrid Mayyasi 2,135
Board of Health
Susan Sama 2,264
Park & Recreation Commissioner
Ryan Poteat 2,200
Planning Board
Julie Perlman 2,188
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee
Ravi Simon 2,134 Sudbury, 534 Lincoln, 2,668 total
Jason McLure 1,982 Sudbury, 582 Lincoln, 2,564 total
Nancy Brumback is a freelance reporter who lives in Sudbury.