'Lots of them.' Write-in votes in Bourne town election near 1,000 for empty seats
BOURNE — Early morning and late afternoon voting was light during Tuesday's annual town election, but there were overwhelming numbers of write-ins and organized sticker candidates. “Lots of them,” Town Clerk Barry Johnson said later in the day.
There were six positions without candidates, notably for constable, library trustee, School Committee, community center trustee and Board of Health (two vacancies). There were 758 School Committee and 221 library trustee write-ins, according to preliminary results.
Select Board Chair Mary Jane Mastrangelo secured a third term with an 848-vote tally. Planning Board member Jeanne Azarovitz was also elected to the Select Board with 643 votes. Daniel Degan placed third with 565. John “Jack” MacDonald secured 375. There were 21 write-ins.
“I am happy the voters have supported my re-election and look forward to continuing to serve the citizens to the best of my ability,” Mastrangelo noted in an email message.
Recreation Authority incumbent Louis Gallo was reelected with 763 votes along with Robert L. Buckley III with 665.
Unopposed incumbents included Moderator Amy Kullar, Town Clerk Johnson, Planning Board members Chris Farrell, Catherine Walton and Daniel Doucette, library trustee Susan Schmidt with 966 votes and School Committee member Kari MacRae with 674.
William “Dusty” Meier was reelected to the Community Center trustee board’s non-military veteran slot with 995 votes. A second trustee slot attracted no candidates.
The following people notified the town clerk’s office ahead of election day they were launching write-in campaigns: Joshua McMahon and Margaret Earao (School Committee), Miguel Prieto and Margaret Reali (Board of Health) and Margaret Song and Amy Sharpe (library trustee).
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne town election attracts nearly 1K write-in votes for empty seats
