BCAT News

Dozens of early voting ballots from Burlington Precincts 1 and 5 were not counted in the town’s April 6 local election, exceeding the margin of victory for some positions and therefore necessitating a manual count of missed ballots in those districts. 

There were about 49 uncounted early voting ballots in Precinct 1 and about 67 uncounted ballots in Precinct 5, according to Town Clerk Amy Warfield. 

“It is my responsibility to ensure that all ballots received before the close of polls are counted,” Warfield said in a statement. “Because the total number of ballots uncounted exceeds the margin of victory for some positions, I have taken the steps required to make sure they are counted. This includes seeking a court order, as required by Massachusetts General Law, to permit me to reopen the sealed ballot boxes. Unfortunately, this process took much longer than expected.”

Warfield said notice has been sent to all candidates in the affected precincts that might have been impacted by the ballots.

Precinct 1 and 5 Town Meeting races could be affected by this count. In Precinct 1, under the results as published after the election, Sunniya Saleem lost her race with 293 votes, with the next lowest candidate, Adam Senesi, earning 327, a 34-vote difference. In Precinct 5, candidates Domenic Grossi, Jr. and Frank P. O’Brien lost with 249 and 224 votes respectively. They lost by margins of 42 and 67 votes respectively, under Carl Foss and Mark Paul Donahue, who each garnered 291 votes. 

“This is a surprise, but hopefully the right thing is being done to remedy it, and ultimately I want the voters to determine the outcome, regardless of what that might be,” said Senesi.

The only townwide race where a different outcome is possible is the School Committee seat, where in the count as published after the election, Meghan Nawoichik defeated incumbent Martha Simon by 90 votes. While it’s unlikely that the uncounted votes sway the result, it’s not impossible.

Nawoichik said she plans to be there in person for the count. “I understand things happen, mistakes happen, and I’m just glad Amy is doing the right thing and following through on her commitment to the town and to voters to make sure that every ballot is counted,” said Nawoichik. 

Simon said notice of the count was hand-delivered to her by the Burlington police. “Mistakes happen,” she said. “Amy is very thorough and she found the problem. I don’t expect it will change the outcome of my race.” 

A notice of meeting for counting the untabulated ballots has also been scheduled for Tuesday, April 30 at 2 p.m. in Town Hall’s 2nd floor main hearing room.