Town Clerk, Laura Gemme, has announced the recount that we mentioned earlier this week is now official. Melissa Lee Murphy, who lost a seat on the Select Board by just 5 votes, submitted her recount paperwork to town hall earlier today. Brian M Curry, who lost a Board of Library Trustees seat by a significantly higher margin at 568 votes, also turned in his paperwork for a recount. Cited on Brian’s petition as the reasoning behind his request was:
A recount is already taking place given one race was decided by five votes; therefore, I would like to simultaneously participate in the hand recount to authenticate the computerized tallied election results.
Brian M. Curry
Both petitioners were required to obtain a minimum of 10 signatures in each of the 8 precincts and had to be obtained separately. If we hear from any of the candidates, we’ll be sure to update or create a new article.
Massachusetts law requires the recount to be done within 10 days of signature verification and a date of April 22 has been slated for a return to the Hawkes Field House at RMHS for both recounts. Ballots will then be counted in stacks of 50 and authenticated. Optionally, all candidates from Select Board and Board of Library Trustees are allowed to have legal representation on site for the recount, at their own expense though.
