On June 26, a recount of the ballots in the school budget referendum confirmed that the machine tally was accurate. On June 11, there were 1,827 votes cast for the budget and 1,823 opposed, showing the budget has passed by four votes. But the machines had recorded 18 of the 3,668 ballots as blanks. Because the marks made on six of these uncounted ballots were determined to show voter intent, they were added to the total. Counters agreed that there were two “yes” votes and four “no” votes on these ballots.
The final results, therefore, showed that the budget had passed by two votes. Had there been a tie vote, the budget would have failed.
The process which led to this result followed Maine state law. A petition requesting a recount required signatures of 100 registered voters. Suzanne Roberge, representing the Gorham Republican Committee, delivered the request to Laurie Nordfors, Gorham town clerk, who served as recount supervisor. Mark Jutkiewicz represented the opposition.
Nordfors had five recount assistants. Roberge and Jutkiewicz each provided ten recount election counters for ten counting teams. The town provided ten election workers who supervised each counting team. Only these people were allowed in the secure area behind a guard rail.
The recount assistants removed the ballots cast in the June 11 referendum from their sealed containers and distributed them in lots of 50 to each counting team. The counter assistants sorted them into piles of “yes” and “no” votes and blank ballots. One counting team member counted the “yes” votes and the other counted the “no” votes. They switched, repeated the count, and compared tallies to see that they agreed. They then looked at the ballots recorded by the machine as blank.
The three team members looked at these ballots to see if they could determine voter intent. On some the voter had marked outside the lines of the oval or made a check mark within the oval instead of filling it in. All three team members had to agree on how the voter had intended to vote. Once they did, that ballot was added to the appropriate pile, and they signed the tally sheet.
Photo credit: Kathy CorbettCounters worked in teams of three, with two teams to a table. After the counter assistant separated the 50 ballots into “yes” and “no” piles, the ballots were counted by two counters. All three members of the team had to agree on the count, including decisions about voter intent on ballots the machines had counted as blank.
This process continued until all the ballots had been hand counted and the results delivered to Nordfors. There were no disagreements over determining a valid vote by voter intent. Of the 18 ballots rejected by the machines, counters determined the six voters had intended to vote either “yes” or “no.”
After announcing the results, Nordfors said, “I truly trust the election process in Maine and especially in Gorham. The DS200 tabulator machines, which read the ballots on Election Day, are trustworthy and accurate. The results from the machines were 100% accurate compared to the hand count.” Nordfors thanked the participants in the recount for their hard work. “We all worked together as a community.”
After the counting was completed and the results tallied, the representatives from both sides signed off on the recount. Roberge, remarking on the need to get more people to vote, said, ”if two people sitting on the couches had participated, it would have made a change.”
“This positive outcome proves the accuracy of the process,” said Jutkiewicz. “The Town Council and the School Committee made this year’s budget process smooth, and they deserve our thanks.”
After the recount, Superintendent Heather Perry said, “The Gorham Schools wish to thank Laurie Nordfors and her team for a thorough and complete recount process. We are pleased with the outcome but understand there is still more work to be done across our community to continue to support our schools and the needs of our children, while balancing the needs of our taxpayers. We should not have to choose between supporting our children or supporting our retirees.”
Speaking as a retiree and a taxpayer, counter Jim Means, insisted that “half of the town voters think the schools are spending too much money.”