Candidates and their supporters watch while the votes are recounted on 5/29/18 in the Fairhaven Board of Public Works race that ended in a tie in April. Photo by Beth David.
By Beth David, Editor
If we were at the Millicent Library, we could have blamed it on the resident ghost, but we were at Town Hall on Tuesday, 5/29, when Robert “Hoppy” Hobson was declared the winner more than a month after the election. The recount, however, raised more questions than it answered.
Then he was declared not the winner and another recount was scheduled, and then he was declared the winner again. It’s a ping pong game and whichever way the ball lands by deadline is what the end of this article will say.
The Board of Public Works race ended in a tie on 4/2, with incumbent Mr. Hobson and newcomer Albert Martin both receiving 338 votes in April. Keith Silvia was top vote-getter with 480 votes. A total of 713 people voted, with two BPW seats up for election. After a bit of confusion about the process, a judge ordered the town to allow the recount.
STANDING L-R: Board of Public Works member Robert “Hoppy” Hobson, Frank Coelho, BPW challengers Albert Martin, Al Audette, and Keith Silvia watch while Amanda Blais (seated L) calls out the votes to Suzanne Blais at the recount of the BPW election tie on Tuesday, 5/29/18, at Fairhaven Town Hall. Photo by Beth David.
After hand counting all the ballots on Tuesday, and re-counting some batches more than once, the numbers simply did not jibe.* The final count was Mr. Silvia with 445; Mr. Hobson with 308; Mr. Martin with 300. Then just before press time, the mystery was solved and another recount was scheduled, but then it was cancelled.
On Tuesday, Town Clerk Eileen Lowney and Assistant Town Clerk Carolyn Hurley set up a couple of tables in the banquet room at town hall. Registrars Nils Isaksen and Kim Hyland counted out the ballots in blocks of 50 for hand counting. Town Hall worker Amanda Blais read off the votes and town hall worker Suzanne Blais marked each vote on a tally sheet for each of the six precincts.
Mr. Hobson, Mr. Martin, Mr. Silvia, two observers, Town Counsel Thomas Crotty, and Mr. Hobson’s attorney Louis Badwey, along with a few members of the public also attended to watch the proceedings.
First there was confusion about counting the blanks. Then there were a few blocks that had to be recounted because of some confusion of one kind or another. Then the attorneys and the town clerk and the helpers tried to figure out if one batch of ballots or another needed to be recounted. Hence, one block of 50 votes got counted three times.
“You should’ve flipped a coin with me at the beginning,” Mr. Hobson told Mr. Martin, who responded that even if he had a coin with two heads he would probably still lose.
L-R: Louis Badwey, attorney for Robert “Hoppy” Hobson; Fairhaven Town Counsel Thomas Crotty; Assistant Town Clerk Carolyn Hurley; and Town Clerk Eileen Lowney, try to figure out why the numbers do not match during the recount of the BPW race on Tuesday, 5/29/18, in town hall. Photo by Beth David.
As the room waited in anticipation, the final count was announced.
“That’s not jibing* with me,” said Ms. Lowney, because the number of ballots in the recount did not match the number of ballots counted on election day. Ms. Lowney searched each bin and envelope, pored over the original tapes from the voting machines, and compared the numbers to the recount numbers and the tally sheets prepared by the precinct workers on voting day.
“I have more faith in the machines,” said Ms. Lowney. “I’m at a loss for this.”
“Louie, am I paying you by the hour or a contract job?” asked Mr. Hobson.
“You don’t want to see my bill,” said Mr. Badwey.
“I want you to send it to the town,” said Mr. Hobson.
“I’ll support you in April,” Mr. Hobson told Mr. Martin. “I will.”
After a few more minutes of counting and puzzling over the missing votes by the town clerk, Mr. Martin said, “I’m withdrawing,” although his statement was largely ignored at first.
Mr. Crotty explained that Ms. Lowney needed to submit a signed statement with the results for them to be official.
“We seem to be missing ballots somehow,” said Mr. Crotty when it was all decided. “Everybody lost votes.”
“All three of you guys are on a slide,” said Mr. Badwey.
L-R: Robert “Hoppy” Hobson and Albert Martin share a little quiet conversation during a lull in the recount on Tuesday, 5/29/18, in Fairhaven Town hall. The two were tied for a Board of Public Works seat in the April 2 election. Photo by Beth David.
“I’d like to know where the votes went,” said Mr. Martin. “But from the get-go, I didn’t care. I was willing to abide by it. He still beat me.”
He said he had hoped, however, that the court would decide on how to break a tie. State law says that the tie is broken by a joint vote of the BPW and the Selectboard. And the Special Act that created the BPW says a vacancy will be decided by the Selectboard only, but it does not mention a tie.
“I wanted to see how the court would go,” said Mr. Martin. “It’s still not clarified.”
“I’m just not satisfied,” said Ms. Lowney on Tuesday. “It’s never been like this before. It’s just crazy.”
Then, on Wednesday, Ms. Lowney said she had solved the mystery: The recount had not included the write-in ballots, which are placed in different envelopes for each precinct. And she set a recount date. Mr. Hobson was not happy with the change. He said he left on Tuesday night believing he won.
“They said I won, on the advice of Town Counsel, the other guy conceded, 24 hour hours later, you’re telling me I didn’t win,” said Mr. Hobson. “If I lose with this next one, I’m going back to court and request a whole new election.”
Then, just before press time, Mr. Martin reiterated that he wanted to withdraw. Ms. Lowney said Town Counsel was okay with it, and Mr. Hobson could be sworn in as soon as the paperwork was done. Then Mr. Hobson contacted the Neighb News and said the lawyers were arguing over it, so he was not sure.
Mr. Martin, though, for his part, is done with it. He said he was sure it would be a tie again, “and we’ll be back to square one.”
Then they would have to go back to Superior Court to decide how to break the tie, then scheduling a meeting to vote. By then, it will be August, he said, and he might as well just run for a seat in April.
He said some of his supporters are upset, though, and they are the only reason he kept fighting as long as he did.
“It’s not fair to the people who voted for me,” said Mr. Martin.
“You just can’t make this stuff up,” said Mr. Hobson. •••
*Fixes typos from previous versions. “Jibe,” not “jive.”
•••
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