AUBURN — Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission candidate Holly Lasagna was confirmed the winner Friday after a long day of recounting votes cast June 10.
She will join Chip Morrison and Michael Beaulieu on the commission.
Eight volunteers and some city staff broke into four teams Friday morning and began sorting through the more than 2,800 ballots.
Chip Morrison claimed the most votes, with 1,301. Michael Beaulieu collected 1,225 votes to get a seat as well.
Lasagna won the third most votes, with 1,048 in the official tally — just six votes ahead of Verne Paradie. That was close enough for Paradie to request a second look at the machine-counted ballots and a slower, more precise hand count.
When the ballots were recounted, the results exactly matched the original count.
Auburn City Clerk Sue Clements-Dallaire said the next step is getting the commissioners sworn in. She said the three want to be sworn in together. Lasagna said she expects the entire charter commission to meet sometime next week.
The ballots have been locked in a city vault since election night. Friday’s first order of business was bringing the ballots back out and up to Auburn Hall community room.
Four volunteers for each candidate — Peter Lasagna, K.C. Geiger, Craig Saddlemire and David Grund for candidate Lasagna and Josh Klein-Golden, Wojciech Cwik, Kelly McMorran and Jasmine Pellerin for Paradie — began sorting through the ballots, separating ballots on the school department budget from Charter Commission ballots. Next they separated ballots that had votes for either Paradie or Lasagna from those that did not.
Finally, about 11 a.m., they began counting votes for each candidate. The counting ended just after 2 p.m.
The three, along with three Lewiston representatives elected last week, should begin meeting this month to begin drafting a charter and an overall plan to consolidate Lewiston and Auburn into one city.
Lewiston voters selected Chantel Pettengill, Eugene Geiger and Lucien Gosselin to be their representatives to the commission.
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- Holly Lasagna pulls a cart of ballots into the Auburn Hall community room on Friday. Auburn Charter Commission candidate Verne Paradie asked for a recount of ballots after losing to Lasagna 1048-1042.
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- Holly Lasagna, left, Auburn Deputy City Clerk Alison Pepin and Jasmine Pellerin escort a cart of ballots at Auburn Hall on Friday. Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission candidate Verne Paradie asked for a recount of ballots after losing to Lasagna 1,048 to 1,042. Pellerin is one of four volunteers who counted ballots for Paradie, who was not present Friday morning.
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- Auburn Deputy City Clerk Alison Pepin pulls a cart of ballots while being followed by Jasmine Pellerin, Holly Lasagna and Auburn City Clerk Sue Clements-Dallaire at Auburn Hall on Friday. Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission candidate Verne Paradie asked for a recount of ballots after losing to Lasagna 1,048 to 1,042. Pellerin is one of four volunteers who counted ballots for Paradie, who was not present Friday morning.
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- Holly Lasagna pulls a cart of ballots into the Auburn Hall community room on Friday. Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission candidate Verne Paradie asked for a recount of ballots after losing to Lasagna 1,048 to 1,042 in elections June 10.
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- Auburn City Clerk Sue Clements-Dallaire gives ballot recount instructions as Jasmine Pellerin listens at Auburn Hall on Friday. Pellerin is one of four volunteers who counted ballots for Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission candidate Verne Paradie, who was not present Friday morning.
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