LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectman George Cummings asked at Tuesday’s board meeting whether selectman candidate Heather Bronish should have served as a ballot clerk at the June 13 election.
“To me, appearancewise, she shouldn’t have been put in that position,” he said.
According to a Maine election law enacted in 1985, the following persons may not serve as election officials:
• An employee of a party or candidate;
• A person having a direct financial interest in the result of a referendum question; or
• A candidate or member of his/her immediate family, in the electoral division from which the candidate seeks election.
A violation is Class E crime punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.
However, Town Manager Kristal Flagg said the law doesn’t apply.
“The state of Maine has no authority to govern a municipal election,” she said. “This does not apply to municipal elections, this rule is for electoral candidates of the state, not local government.”
Timothy Feeley, spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, said that while he wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the situation, the provisions of the law cover both municipal and state elections.
On Thursday, Bronish pointed out that she was running uncontested for selectman. She said that last year, when she was running for selectman in a contested race, she didn’t serve as an election official.
She said she never would have been counting ballots if she knew it was illegal.
“I just don’t understand how I could have affected anything,” she said.
Flagg said, “We were under the assumption that this was OK, for years. That’s what we’ve always done.”
She said it is difficult to find ballot clerks.
Anyone interested in becoming a ballot clerk is urged to call the Town Office at 897-2016.
