PERU – The new chairman of the Board of Selectmen said Monday night he favors continuing the practice begun this year of splitting up the annual town meeting warrant articles for voting at the meeting and at the polls days later.
“Though I understand that some people were upset over the referendum vote, I feel the written ballot is the way to go,” Chairman Bill Hine told the board.
Selectmen Norman DeRoche and Andre St. Pierre agreed. St. Pierre said people told him they liked the written ballot.
About 40 residents attended the annual meeting Saturday, March 18, to vote on 42 articles pertaining to running town government; 240 went to the polls March 21 to decide on mostly money articles for social service agencies.
Selectmen decided on the double-pronged vote this year because they wanted more voters to have a say in how much money is spent, DeRoche said. No decision has been made on whether to continue the practice, he added.
Newly elected selectmen Rodney Jamison and Dennis Thibodeau did not agree with fellow board members. In fact, Jamison said townspeople should have voted on whether to switch to voting at the polls.
DeRoche said the secret-ballot referendum shortened the meeting but lengthened the counting because the town has no voting machines and must tally by hand.
Town Clerk Vera Parent presented selectmen with responses from a questionnaire she presented voters on the referendum:
• 173 said they liked it; 26 did not;
• 180 said they had enough information before voting; 20 said they did not; and
• 120 people said they would like to see all articles on a referendum ballot; 75 said they would not.
Parent said she spent $750 on the referendum, hiring more people due to the length of the ballot. She said if the board votes to continue the practice they need to think about a voting machine because counting lasted well after midnight.
Hine asked Parent to present figures on the extra cost of a town meeting referendum.
The board discussed possibilities for handling the balloting in a manner that would satisfy those who wanted discussion beforehand. One suggestion that appealed to most members was to have the warrant discussion in the morning and open the polls immediately afterward.
Hine said one reason for having a referendum is the opportunity for absentee voting.
Parent said there were 36 absentee votes this year.
Hine said selectmen did not recommended money for the 17 agencies seeking town funds so townspeople could see cuts in spending were necessary this year. All 17 articles were rejected at the referendum.
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