Town Elections held on Saturday, May 16th in Plympton and Halifax suffered from very low turnout and many uncontested races. In Halifax, voter turnout was 16.83% percent while in Plympton it was just half that at 8%. In fact, in Halifax there were just two contested races out of 16 and in Plympton, just one contested race out of 15.
The atmosphere of uncontested and vacant races created a situation where many write-in and/or sticker candidates participated. Write-in candidates must accept their positions before official results can be disseminated, and two write-in candidates declined the positions voters wrote them in for, thus creating a “failure-to-elect” situation, and vacancies. In Plympton there were two “failure-to-elect” races.
In Halifax, 862 of the 5,123 registered voters cast ballots.
In the two contested races, one for the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, incumbent Cassandra Hanson lost to Mark Aubrey for a three-year term, who won handily.
Ms. Hanson is mid-term and continues to sit on the Halifax School Committee. In the other contested race, Pamela Adduci beat Robin Maher for another three-year term as Treasurer/Collector, 502-337.
Thomas Millias was elected with strong support to a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen in an uncontested race, with 669 votes in favor. Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor was re-elected with for a three-year term as was John Bruno, II as Town Moderator for three years, both comfortably.
As for the Halifax School Committee contest, the incumbent Summer Schmaling and newcomer Linda Twiss Gioscia both won a three-year term for the two available seats, with 547 and 439 votes, respectively.
Holly Merry was re-elected to the Board of Assessors, for a three-year term, and Alan Dias was written in for a three-year term to the Board of Health with just 140 votes.
Pricilla Murphy was re-elected to a one-year term as a Library Trustee. Caroline Harrington and Ava Grimason were elected to two and three-year terms as Library Trustees, respectively, as well.
Richard Clark won a write-in campaign for a five-year term on the Housing Authority. Incumbents Gerard Elliot were re-elected for a three-year term as Park Commissioner and Daniel Bosworth was re-elected for a three-year term as Water Commissioner.
A five-year term on the Planning Board remains vacant, as no one ran.
The controversial non-binding ballot question regarding the Common Core and PARCC testing, asking if voters wanted to return to pre-2010 (MCAS) curriculum standards passed 516-210 in favor.
In Plympton, which has 2,107 registered voters, just 175 turned out to cast ballots.
In a very tight race for Plympton School Board, and the only contested race on the ballot, Michael Antoine was defeated by just six votes to Lynn Kaupp (138-132) for a three-year term.
Two seats on the Finance Committee resulted in “Failure-to-Elect” scenarios when the write-in candidates declined (Former Selectmen John Henry for a one-year planning board seat and Art Morin to a two-year seat, also to the planning board). These seats are thus vacant.
Incumbent Maureen Springer was re-elected to the Silver Lake Regional School District for a three-year term, uncontested, and Jason Fraser was elected for a two-year term, also uncontested.
Christine Joy was elected Selectmen with solid backing of the voters to a three-year term, with 161 votes in favor.
Jocelyn Anderson was re-elected Town Assessor for a three-year term in a write-in campaign, with just 58 votes. Ethan Stiles and Steven Lewis were voted Assessor for two and one-year terms, respectively, with 134 and 143 votes cast in favor.
Paul D’Angelo was elected to a five-year term on the Planning Board in an uncontested race, and Deborah Anderson was elected to the Planning Board for a one-year term in a write-in campaign.
The race for library trustees saw Kristine Boyle re-elected, winning easily, and newcomer Dominique Sampson, also win another open seat as a write-in candidate, with 151 and 31 votes, respectively.
The Board of Health gained a new member with Harry L. Weikel, Jr., 141 votes in favor, and James Mulcahey was re-elected Highway Supervisor with 151 votes. Tree Warden William Hayes was re-elected for a three-year term with 161 votes in favor.
Finally, Tara Morrison was re-elected Town Clerk in an uncontested race for a three-year term, with 167 votes.