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elections

Bemis Hall speakers push claims of 2020 election fraud

May 11, 2022

The digital flyer publicizing the May 5 event in Lincoln.

(Editor’s note: please see this accompanying editorial by Lincoln Squirrel editor Alice Waugh. Also, this story was updated on May 12 — scroll to the bottom for details.)

Questions swirled last week about how a group of right-wing “election integrity” skeptics came to speak to an enthusiastic crowd (most from out of town) in Bemis Hall on May 5. The controversy gave rise to dozens of passionate posts on LincolnTalk before the topic was banned by moderators, snared former Select Board candidate Adam Hogue, and spotlighted a grassroots movement to restrict voting and take over the management of elections at the local level.

Alarm bells rang for many in Lincoln when it became know that “Election Integrity Analysis & Discussion” would feature remarks by Seth Keshel, a U.S. Army veteran who’s been speaking around the country in support of his claims that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election only because of voter fraud.

It initially appeared that Hogue, who runs the Veterans of Lincoln, Mass. group (VOLMA), organized the May 5 event, but this turned out not to be the case. The actual organizers were Todd Pond Road residents Tom and Edie Risser. Tom Risser, a cardiologist with the Cambridge Health Alliance and Navy veteran, is a VOLMA member.

Renting Bemis Hall for a private event costs $300, though there is no fee if a town group sponsors it. “We reached out to Adam and he was happy to sponsor it from the perspective of saving us money,” Edie Risser said on May 10. They agreed that VOLMA would not be mentioned in publicity for the event, but after the resulting outcry, Hogue clarified with Bemis Hall that his group was not sponsoring it, and the Rissers agreed to pay the $300.

Hogue co-founded VOLMA (which he said has 30-40 members) about 10 years ago to work with the Lincoln Veterans’ Services Officer and plan activities for Memorial Day and other events. Asked by the Lincoln Squirrel this week whether he agreed with Keshel’s views about the election, he said, “Absolutely not.”

According to Edie Risser, Keshel offered to include Rhode Island election trends in his analysis, so a group of about 30 people from that state were bused up to Lincoln to attend. 

The event itself was orderly, with a tone that varied from light-hearted to indignant. Co-emcee Tom Risser opened the proceedings by leading the audience in a militarily correct pledge of allegiance and a prayer. Several other speakers preceded Keshel, including former Army Capt. James Tesauro, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Sheboygan, Wis., last year. He didn’t discuss any specifics regarding alleged election fraud but railed against what he saw as the left’s attempts to “brainwash” and control people.

“I’m not sending my kid to public school when she’s old enough because she’s not going to be indoctrinated by state propaganda. End of story. I don’t care what the state tells me what to do. I don’t need Daddy Government to tell me how to live my life or teach my children how to grow up or what they should believe. That’s my job,” he said to applause.

“We have to learn how to fight and think… we have to be involved,” said Tesauro, who urged attendees to run for local school board and county government. “Or go to a [local government] meeting and show up to stuff like this,” he said. The left’s attitude toward people like him is “we’re going to delete you from the planet,” he added, saying it was a “badge of honor” that he had been banned from Twitter.

Keshel, decked out in Revolutionary War clothing and tricorn hat, titled his segment “Behind the Election Corruption Curtain.” His talk focused on how the 2020 election results in some states and counties bucked voting trends from several previous several elections. “I don’t believe Trump won Massachusetts, but Rhode Island has a very nasty trend chart,” he said.

Keshel gained attention last summer when he claimed to prove that there were 8.1 million fraudulent votes in the 2020 election and that Trump won seven states that he actually lost. His false claims were publicized by websites including the Gateway Pundit, which Wikipedia describes as “a far-right fake news website… known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.” Centrist news organizations including the Associated Press and Reuters have debunked the election fraud claims made by Keshel and other military veterans.

Among Keshel’s other remarks:

  • He scorned polling by the “mainstream media,” which he said is done to “influence minds.”
  • Moderate Republicans often promote centrist candidates “to make sure the political system stays intact and is not taken over by populists who may put America first.”
  • The CDC is “tracking all kinds of people to see if they’re obeying [public health] mandates.”
  • The Department of Homeland Security “wants to call people organizing meetings like this a bunch of terrorists.”
  • He cited a quote often misattributed to Samuel Adams: “He did not believe you needed a majority to prevail… he believed it only takes an irate minority intent on setting brushfires of freedom in the hearts and minds of men.”

To achieve “election integrity,” Keshel advocated 10 steps including banning all electronic voting equipment, requiring a photo ID for all voters, banning early voting and mail-in voting by everyone except overseas military members and those who are certified as “disabled by a notary,” and banning so-called “ballot harvesting” where it’s legal in 36 states for someone chosen by the voter to return mail and absentee ballots on their behalf.

Interviewed by the Squirrel on May 10, Edie Risser said, “if I could do it again, I would. I was happy with the event — I think it reflected a lot of stuff going on out there. This has been going on for a while, the sense that the elections can’t be trusted. I think people also felt disenfranchised in 2016 and then there were four years of targeting that president [Trump].” She also echoed familiar claims about the media distorting and suppressing accounts about the Clinton campaign’s activities, Russian election interference, and Hunter Biden’s laptop. 

“People have to be nonemotional and just look at data,” she said. “I wanted that whole thing to be objectively looking at information, but I guess nothing can be nonpartisan these days.”


May 12 update:

A video of the May 5 event was available for a few days on YouTube, but the platform took it down shortly after this article was originally published on the evening of May 10 for violating its community guidelines. Those guidelines cover a number of categories, but the video was most likely removed for violating the Elections Misinformation standards, which include a prohibition on videos about election integrity with “content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches changed the outcome of select past national elections, after final election results are officially certified.”

May 17 update:

The YouTube video has been restored. It is also also available on Groton resident John Abrahamsen’s Facebook page, which contains links to other far-right conspiracy sites and commentators. 

Category: elections, news 4 Comments

Flint tops voting for Planning Board; Hutchinson, Rajdev elected

March 29, 2022

Challenger Ephraim Flint won one of two seats on the Planning Board with the highest tally of the three candidates, winning 713 votes in the March 28 town election. Incumbent Chair Margaret Olson narrowly retained her seat over fellow board member Steve Gladstone by a margin of 561–544.

Flint, a Lincoln native who served on the board from 2003–2008, was seen by some as a candidate who was more cautious about allowing more development in town, particularly in South Lincoln.

In the Select Board races, Jim Hutchinson will replace outgoing board member James Craig, beating School Committee member Adam Hogue by a tally of 914–215. Hutchinson previously served on the Finance Committee, Water Commission and Green Energy Committee. In the March 16 candidate forum, Hogue advocated for more housing in town to alleviate the statewide housing crisis and increase socioeconomic diversity in town.

“I just wanted to send a quick note and congratulate Jim on his victory,” Hogue said in an email to LincolnTalk on Tuesday morning. “I wish Jim and the rest of the Select Board nothing but the best during the next term and look forward to my continued work on the School Committee. I am proud of the campaign me and my team ran and plan to continue the fight for affordable housing, economic development, and responsible budgets.”

In the Lincoln School Committee race, Kim Rajdev beat Joseph Dwyer by a 901-211 margin. “The voters of Lincoln have spoken,” Dwyer wrote to LincolnTalk on Tuesday. “Kim, you won fair and square. I wish you the best of luck in your term. I appreciate the issue-oriented campaign and that it did not devolve into personality squabbles. The voters of Lincoln deserved that. I want to thank  the moderators of LincolnTalk and Lincoln Squirrel for providing a quick and fair method of communicating positions on the issues. We should all thank Valerie Fox and her team for doing a great job operating a smooth election and providing quick results.”

L-S School Committee incumbents Cara Endyke Doran and Kevin Matthews retained their seats, winning 1,853 and 1,650 votes respectively in the combined Lincoln and Sudbury town elections. 

The vote in Sudbury was close: 1,307 for Carty, 1,207 for Matthews, and 1,046 for Endyke Doran, the incumbent chair. Challenger Maura Carty got the most votes in Sudbury but the fewest in Lincoln. In Lincoln, the biggest vote-getter for that race was “blank” with 882 votes, undoubtedly because none of the candidates were Lincoln residents.

Prec. 1Prec. 2Total
SELECT BOARD
ADAM M. HOGUE110105215
JAMES M. HUTCHINSON595319914
WRITE INS224
BLANK382462
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
BRUCE D. CAMPBELL534322856
WRITE INS415
BLANK207127334
BOARD OF HEALTH
STEVEN R. KANNER547334881
WRITE INS505
BLANK193116309
CEMETERY COMMISSIONER
CONRAD H. TODD574333907
WRITE INS404
BLANK167117284
COMMISSIONER OF TRUST FUNDS
DOUGLAS B. HARDING557327884
WRITE INS314
BLANK185122307
HOUSING COMMISSION
RAKESH KARMACHARYA547323870
WRITE INS404
BLANK194127321
L-S REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE
CARA EILEEN ENDYKE-DORAN506301807
KEVIN J. MATTHEWS284159443
MAURA F. CARTY145110255
WRITE INS303
BLANK552330882
PARKS and RECREATION COMMITTEE
THORNTON D. RING, JR552314866
WRITE INS325
BLANK190134324
PLANNING BOARD
STEPHEN R. GLADSTONE341203544
SETHA MARGARET OLSON359202561
EPHRAIM BEMIS FLINT419294713
WRITE INS011
BLANK371200571
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
JOSEPH J. DWYER, JR12586211
KIMBERLY RAJDEV562339901
WRITE INS022
BLANK582381
TOWN CLERK
VALERIE FOX6533901043
WRITE INS000
BLANK9260152
TRUSTEES OF BEMIS
SARA A. MATTES590350940
WRITE INS224
BLANK15398251
TRUSTEE OF LINCOLN LIBRARY
RAY A. SHEPARD583351934
WRITE INS202
BLANK16099259
WATER COMMISSIONER (3-Year Term)
JASON S. LEE546318864
WRITE INS000
BLANK199132331
WATER COMMISSIONER (2-Year Term)
RUTH ANN HENDRICKSON589342931
WRITE INS404
BLANK152108260

Category: elections, news 1 Comment

Candidate forum highlights housing, schools, and diversity

March 17, 2022

Candidates in the March 28 town election shared their views on the proposed community center, the Lincoln-Sudbury regional agreement, South Lincoln, and diversity and inclusion at a March 16 forum — the first public event held in the renovated Brooks auditorium.

Four of the races (Select Board, Planning Board, Lincoln School Committee and L-S School Committee or LSSC) are contested, and the Lincoln PTO, the forum’s organizer, addressed questions specific to those groups of candidates. The event, which began with introductions by all 16 candidates who attended, can be viewed here. An earlier forum for the LSSC candidates sponsored by the Sudbury League of Women Voters can be viewed here.

Community center cost is an issue

Select Board candidates Jim Hutchinson and Adam Hogue, who are vying for the seat being vacated by James Craig, said they supported the community center but expressed concern about how to pay for it (although many residents at the State of the Town meeting in November 2021 supported pursuing the project aggressively before costs went even higher). The project is now estimated to cost around $25 million and comes on the heels of a $93 million investment in the Lincoln School.

Hogue said he was against raising taxes to fund a community center, something that would be necessary if it were to be paid for primarily through bonding. “We have to look at different funding options,” he said, adding that the town could consider “pushing off other capital projects so we have to borrow less… This is going to be an expensive project. We have to be very conscious about how we actually fund those [projects] because our taxes have gone up quite a bit in town.”

The projected cost increase for the community center (first pegged at about $15 million in 2018) “has caused a bit of sticker shock for a bunch of us,” said Hutchinson, a former Finance Committee member. “We should take another look at the scope of the project and see if there’s any way we can maybe move some of the functions to our newly renovated school or other spaces in town and keep costs under control somewhat.” 

The town’s debt stabilization fund is another potential source of funding, as are private donations, though the town is not permitted to actively solicit donations for public projects, Hutchinson said. “I want to have dialogue with the community and do what you all want, not what I want to do.”

L-S regional agreement

Earlier this month, the L-S School Committee established a subcommittee to look at the regional agreement governing how funding for the high school is apportioned between Lincoln and Sudbury. That agreement has not been reexamined in many years.

The agreement “should be treated almost like a marriage, and what makes a marriage stronger is trust, respect, and communication,” said LSSC candidate Maura Carty. Budgeting timelines in the two towns have diverged, and the superintendent of schools must spend considerable time making both operating and capital budget requests to both towns. “I’d like to give the superintendent more time to spend with our students” while streamlining the budget process, Carty said.

Current LSSC chair Cara Endyke Doran agreed that a review of the agreement was overdue, saying the committee should update it to reflect “standard legal language and best practices.”

“There’s been a lot of talk across the river in Sudbury that’s really alarmist” when the subject of reviewing the regional agreement comes up, said incumbent Kevin Matthews (all three candidates vying for two open seats are Sudbury residents). “It’s a contract between two towns, but it’s also an opportunity to build more trust between the towns. There’s no way that anyone is going to snowball the other one in something like this.”

South Lincoln zoning changes

The future of South Lincoln in light of the state Housing Choice Act was issue #1 for the three Planning Board candidates competing for two seats. The board and its SLPAC subcommittee were working on ideas for rezoning the area to encourage more housing and commercial development even before last year’s passage of the state law, which (if enforced in its current form) would require Lincoln to allow at least 750 housing units within half a mile of the commuter rail station. They went back to the drawing board after residents complained two years ago that an initial rezoning proposal would give the Planning Board too much power at the expense of Town Meeting.

All three candidates emphasized that any changes will have to be approved by residents, not just the Planning Board. “We’re all ears to hear anyone’s suggestion,” Gladstone said. “Our job is to facilitate bringing as much information to as many people as possible so the town can decide.” Though some fear that the “we’re going to make a decision and suddenly something is going to be foisted on the town, that is simply not the case.” 

“If it does require some rezoning, the town will make the final decision,” said Ephraim Flint, a challenger who previously served on the board.

“South Lincoln is very important to the town, and whatever changes we make there, we will be living with for many, many years,” Planning Board Chair Margaret Olson observed. “I’m looking forward to hearing about more options and tools to help us all understand what something might even look like, being able to visualize and understand what this means and what the implications are.”

Mental health, diversity, and social issues in schools

The two Lincoln School Committee candidates (both newcomers running for a vacant seat) said they supported the school district’s work around AIDE (antiracism, inclusion, diversity and equity). “We have to have smart educational accountability. We spend a lot of money and we have to be sure everyone is included and gets a good education,” said Joseph Dwyer.

Kim Rajdev implied that the goals of AIDE are not well served by having children grouped by ability. “It really pains me when I hear a very young child say ‘I’m not good at math’,” she said. The schools need to “move away from content and more toward adaptability and teamwork skills… thinking on our feet.”

Later in the forum where each contested candidate was asked about the most significant issue facing their board, Dwyer echoed Rajdev’s sentiment. “What students specifically learn today will be irrelevant as a flip phone 20 years from now. We have to teach them how to learn, not just regurgitating numbers and facts. They need to learn how to learn, analyze a situation, improvise, adapt, and overcome that situation.”

Mental health for teachers as well as students in the wake of the pandemic’s disruptions is also a central issue, Rajdev said. “We need to have deeper learning, but in a measured way and check in with teachers to make sure it’s not overwhelming for them,” she said.

The L-S School Committee candidates agreed on the importance of addressing mental health issues among students. The high school needs more data and metrics on this issue, Carty and Endyke Doran said. 

“The services are there,” but a majority of students don’t feel comfortable asking for help with mental health. More school-wide programs and events would help with that issue as well as building a sense of inclusiveness and confidence among students, Carty said.

Matthews supported improving student services but observed that “all of that needs to be paid for,” which is challenging in a time of declining enrollment and revenue at the high school. “It’s important  for us to be very cognizant of how we’re going to take care of students who have been impacted by the pandemic mentally and emotionally and have them be educated in a way that’s equal to everything else.”

“We need to know what’s working and not working so we can appropriately allocate funds and resources for our students,” Endyke Doran said.

The School Committee candidates were also asked if parents should have input on how the schools present information on controversial social issues to students. Many districts around the country are arguing over how (or even whether) to teach about topics such as race and homosexuality, although those issues were not mentioned specifically in the Lincoln forum.

“Yes, it’s our kids, and we should have input,” although local schools must be guided by state education standards, Rajdev said. If a parent is concerned about age-appropriate teaching material on controversial topics, “that discussion should be happening with the teacher and the superintendent. The School Committee is there to make sure the district is following the strategic plan and is supporting the administration” as its board of directors.

“There’s something that should be 100% clear: anything that is taught at school should be public to the parents,” said Dwyer, adding that he was recently told that he would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement if a school board were to tell him what was being taught. “That’s wrong. Parents have the primary responsibility. It’s very important for parents to know everything that is being taught, chapter and verse.”

Housing and diversity

Both Select Board candidates identified the housing crisis as the most pressing issue facing the board. “We need more housing and I do believe we can afford to do those housing units down there” as directed by the Housing Choice Act, Hogue said. “We can’t move slow on this; there’s a housing crisis in this area, and we need to develop and pass more housing options for people… [if] we’re going to get serious about this as a community.”

While Hutchinson said he supported the act’s intentions, he said it’s flawed in its current form. “The state needs feedback from us on how to fix this. Seven hundred and fifty units is not appropriate for our town… I believe residents would like to help do our share with the housing situation, but let’s get the implications of this act right first.”

Two of the Planning Board candidates agreed that housing is the biggest issue for the board right now. “The housing crisis is real. We all want South Lincoln to be a more vibrant place, and that probably requires having more housing there,” Olson said. “This will consume a great deal of the Planning Board’s time over the next couple of years.”

“What’s being asked of the town is some that’s desirable in some sense, but the scale is out of proportion to what we can achieve,” Flint said. Because of two-acre zoning and other  factors, most of Lincoln’s housing “tends to be upper-end and that’s significantly changed the economic demography of the town. How do you deal with that?”

Gladstone said he felt strongly about getting the community center built and hoped that additional development would help pay for some of it. 

“It all goes back to housing,” Hogue said when he and Hutchinson were asked what they would do to help Lincoln become more inclusive and diverse. “You can talk about diversity all you want, but if people can’t move here and afford to live here, we’re not going to have diversity.”

“We have to put our money where our mouth is,” said Hutchinson. As a member of the working group deciding how to spend federal pandemic relief money, he said he supported creating two new AIDE-related positions, one to guide teachers and a consultant to help build the town’s diversity programs. “It’s not easy to figure out what to do on some of these issues, and I’m looking forward to learning lessons [from the consultant] on best practices.”

Category: elections, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

PTO to host debate for town candidates

March 3, 2022

The Lincoln PTO will hold a debate featuring candidates in the March 28 town election on Wednesday, March 16 from 7–9 p.m. The event will take place in the newly renovated Brooks Auditorium and will also be live-streamed and recorded.

Moderating the event will be PTO co-chair Rob Stringer and former PTO president Carol Kasper. All of the candidates for the four contested races (Select Board, Lincoln School Committee, L-S School Committee, and Planning Board) have said they will participate, as have most of those who are running uncontested. “We really want everyone to get to know all the candidates,” Stringer said.

Each candidate will have two minutes to introduce themselves and will then face questions from the moderators. There will also be Q&A opportunities for the audience, probably with questions written down and sent to the moderators as with recent Town Meetings.

National issues have trickled down into local politics in many cities and towns, “but we want to make sure it stays civil and nobody feels attacked from the right or the left. We are still neighbors,” Stringer said.

Details and online links will be announced closer to the event.

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections 2 Comments

Several contested seats in upcoming town election

February 8, 2022

There’s more interest than usual in running for town office this year, as 21 residents filed papers to run for 17 seats in the March 28 election (see table below). The contested races are:

Select Board (two candidates running for one seat) — Incumbent James Craig is stepping down after two terms and Jim Hutchinson and Adam Hogue are competing for that open seat.

Planning Board (three candidates running for two seats) — Incumbents Margaret Olson and Steve Gladstone are running for reelection, and Ephraim Flint is also running. Flint previously served on the Planning Board in the 2000s.

Lincoln School Committee (two candidates running for one seat) — Newcomers Kimberly Rajdev and Joseph Dwyer are vying for the seat of Jen James, who was appointed to fill the seat of Trintje Gnazzo (who resigned mid-term) but is not running for election to a full term. Meanwhile, Adam Hogue (who is on the committee but not up for reelection) is running for a seat on the Select Board. If he wins that seat,  the School Committee and Select Board will appoint an interim member to fill his spot.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee (three candidates running for two seats) — All three (two incumbents and a challenger) are Sudbury residents. The seats held by Lincoln residents Heather Cowap and Harold Engstrom are not up for reelection this year.

Board/Committee# of SeatsCandidate NameEmail
Board of Assessors1Bruce Campbell*camshaftbc@gmail.com
Board of Health1Steven R. Kanner*drkanner@orchardhealthcare.com
Cemetery Commission1Conrad Todd*robtodd1937@gmail.com
Commissioner of Trust Funds1Douglas B. Harding*dsh1965@verizon.net
Housing Commission1Rakesh Karmacharya*karmacha@hotmail.com
LSRHS School Committee2Maura Cartymauracarty4lssc@gmail.com
Cara Eileen Endyke Doran*caraforlssc@gmail.com
Kevin J. Matthews*kjmatthews05@comcast.net
Parks and Recreation Committee1Thornton Ringtring01@yahoo.com
Planning Board2Ephraim B. Flintebflint@verizon.net
Stephen R. Gladstone*steve.gladstone@gmail.com
Setha Margaret Olson*margaret@margaretolson.com
Lincoln School Committee1Joseph J. Dwyerjaysp51d@gmail.com
Kimberly Rajdevkrajdev@gmail.com
Select Board1Adam M. Hogueadam.m.hogue@gmail.com
James Hutchinsonjmhutch5@hotmail.com
Town Clerk1Valerie Fox*foxv@lincolntown.org
Trustees of Bemis Fund1Sara A. Mattes*samattes@gmail.com
Trustee of Lincoln Library1Ray A. Shepardrayashepard@gmail.com
Water Commission2Ruth Ann Hendrickson*raandbob@earthlink.net
Jason S. Leejasonslee.phd@gmail.com

* incumbent

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Town election results: Doo wins seat on Parks and Rec Committee

March 30, 2021

In the only contested race in the local election on Mach 29, 2021, Brianna Doo beat Evan Gorman for an open seat on the Parks and Recreation Committee by a total of 303–87. However, Gorman also successfully ran for reelection to the Housing Commission.

Offices & CandidatesPrecinct 1Precinct 2Total
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
JENNIFER LANE REASER GLASS268162430
WRITE-IN112
BLANK18725
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
EDWARD H. MORGAN263153416
WRITE-IN101
BLANK231740
BOARD OF HEALTH
PATRICIA E. MILLER259158417
WRITE-IN101
BLANK271239
CEMETERY COMMISSIONER
DOUGLAS B. HARDING259156415
WRITE-IN112
BLANK271340
COMMISSIONER OF TRUST FUNDS
WRITE-IN19928
DONALD COLLINS5611
BLANK263155418
HOUSING COMMISSION
EVAN KARMEL GORMAN251149400
WRITE-IN303
BLANK332154
L-S REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE
HEATHER-JEANNE COWAP SALEMME259155414
MARY D. WARZYNSKI192114306
WRITE-IN101
BLANK12271193
PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE
BRIANNA MARISA DOO183120303
EVAN KARMEL GORMAN513687
WRITE-IN101
BLANK521466
PLANNING BOARD
GERALD A. TAYLOR253153406
WRITE-IN123
BLANK331548
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
SUSAN HANDS TAYLOR245150395
JOHN A. MACLACHLAN227135362
WRITE-IN101
BLANK10155156
TRUSTEES OF BEMIS
MIRIAM L. BORDEN255155410
WRITE-IN101
BLANK311546
WATER COMISSIONER
JAMES M. HUTCHINSON262157419
WRITE-IN000
BLANK251338

Category: elections, government Tagged: elections 2 Comments

Candidate slate ready for town election in March

February 24, 2021

The slate for the upcoming town election features several newcomers hoping to win seats after some incumbents decided not to run for reelection, and one contested seat — two candidates are vying for one opening on the Parks and Recreation Commission. All seats are for three-year terms.

Residents can vote in person in the Smith gym from 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, March 29. They may also vote by absentee ballot, or early by mail (this last option has been extended by the legislature).

The election is usually held two days after the Annual Town Meeting, but the ATM this year will be held outdoors on May 15 (details to be announced).

Board/committeeCandidateIncumbent not running for reelection
Board of AssessorsEdward Morgan*
Board of HealthPatricia Miller*
Board of SelectmenJennifer Glass*
Cemetery CommissionDouglas Harding**None (the seat is currently open)
Commissioner of Trust Funds—Donald Collins
Housing CommissionEvan Gorman
LSRHS School CommitteeHeather Cowap SalemmeCarole Kasper
LSRHS School CommitteeMary WarzynskiEllen Joachim
Parks and Recreation CommitteeBrianna Doo, Evan GormanSarah Chester
Planning BoardGerald Taylor*
School CommitteeSusan Taylor*
School CommitteeJohn MaclachlanPeter Borden
Trustees of Bemis FundMiriam Borden*
Water CommissionJim Hutchinson*

* Incumbent running for reelection

** Doug Harding is running for the seat formerly held by his wife Susan, who passed away in 2020.

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Volunteers helped count thousands of election ballots cast early

November 4, 2020

(Editor’s note: This story was written and intended to be posted on Sunday, Nov. 1, but a technical error prevented its timely publication.)

November 1, 2020 — Millions of ballots nationwide are already being tallied in advance of Election Day on Tuesday, and Lincoln is no different. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Town Clerk staff and volunteers spent hours opening and recording votes submitted via absentee ballot and early in-person voting.

A total of 3,467 votes have been cast (2,111 in precinct 1 and 1,356 in precinct 2). With 5,015 registered voters among Lincoln’s 7,050 residents, that translates to a voter turnout of 69% even before the polls open on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the polls will undoubtedly be busy on Tuesday; voter turnout in the last presidential election in 2016 was almost 86%, according to Town Clerk Valerie Fox.

Sunday’s process involved two sets of volunteers in Town Hall opening ballots, checking them against lists of registered voters, and feeding them into a voting machine that will tabulate the votes but will not display results until the polls have closed at 8 p.m. on November 3.

The pandemic and the passions surrounding this year’s election have galvanized Lincoln voters who are generally quite enthusiastic and involved even in normal years. On the first day of early voting on October 17, “there was a constant line,” Fox said. 

In recent months, there was concern in many towns that there would not be enough help on and before Election Day, since polling volunteers tend to skew older and many senior citizens are wary of Covid-19. But this hasn’t been a problem, as younger residents have filled the gap, including college students who did not go back to campus in September because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

“One of the great things that’s come out of this election is the number of people who have volunteered,” Fox said. “Many seniors are not comfortable [working] on Election Day, but younger people have volunteered, and it’s their time to step in,” Fox said. 

The reliability of the U.S Postal Service amid reports of delivery slowdowns that could have depressed turnout has also been a concern nationwide, “but the Lincoln postal services have been beyond what I could have hoped for — they have been absolutely outstanding,” Fox said. As an example, town postal workers received 2,000 blank ballots on October 7 for distribution residents who requested them — and they were all delivered on the same day. Postal workers are also prioritizing ballots that are postmarked on or before November 3 that don’t arrive that day. If the Town Clerk’s office gets them by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, they’ll still count.

Click the photos below for larger versions and captions:

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Category: elections, government, news Leave a Comment

Lincoln goes for Biden in a blowout as national results still undetermined

November 4, 2020

Lincoln’s unofficial election results are in, and as expected, Democrat Joe Biden trounced President Donald Trump by a margin of 81% to 19%. Statewide, Biden’s margin of victory was 66% to 33%.

Lincolnites also approved both ballot questions by comfortable margins. However, 55% of voters statewide said no to ranked-choice voting, according to The New York Times. The right-to-repair question passed in Massachusetts with 75% of voters saying yes.

In Lincoln, 4,152 voters cast ballots, or 83% of registered voters. A total of 3,467 (84%) of ballots were cast via absentee ballot, mail in, or early voting.

Click here to see a map outlining Lincoln’s two voting precincts.

Precinct #1Precinct #2Total% of ballots
cast*
U.S. PRESIDENT
Biden & Harris (D)2,0711,3033,37481%
Trump & Pence (R)34132066116%
Hawkins & Walker (Green/Rainbow)13518<1%
Jorgensen & Cohen (Libertarian)321951<1%
U.S. SENATE
Edward Markey (D)2,0261,2683,29479%
Kevin O'Connor (R)42435978319%
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Katherine Clark (D)2,0071,2463,25378%
Caroline Colarusso (R)42036278219%
COUNCILLOR
Marilyn Devaney (D)1,8791,2043,08374%
STATE SENATOR
Michael Barrett1,9811,2553,32678%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Thomas Stanley (D)1,7651,1372,90270%
George Darcy (I)41429971317%
REGISTER OF PROBATE
Tara deCristofaro (D)1,5991,0662,66564%
QUESTION #1
(Right to repair)
Yes1,9151,2653,18077%
No47133880919%
QUESTION #2
(Ranked-choice voting)
Yes1,5781,0092,58762%
No8015841,38533%

* Totals do not add up to 100% because write-in and blank ballots are not included.

Category: elections, government, news Leave a Comment

Markey defeats Kennedy handily in Lincoln primary

September 2, 2020

Lincolnites overwhelmingly voted for incumbent U.S. Senator Edward M. Markey over U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III in the September 1 Democratic primary by a margin of 76%–24%. The margin far exceeded Markey’s statewide result, where he won 55% to 45%.

Interestingly, several other Democratic incumbents (U.S. Rep. Katharine Clark, State Sen. Michael Barrett, and State Rep. Thomas Stanley) each got more votes than Markey, even though all three were running unopposed.

Largely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost three-quarters of Lincolnites voted in some nontraditional way (mail-in, absentee ballot, or early voting in person). Of the 2,378 ballots cast, only 630 (24%) were voted on Election Day in the Smith gym.

In the Republican primary, 178 votes were cast. Kevin J. O’Connor edged out Shiva Ayyadurai, 93–82 (52%–46%, not including one write-in and two blank ballots). Though still in the minority, a much larger percentage of Lincoln Republicans (45%) cast their ballots on Election Day compared to the Democrats.

Democratic primary in Lincoln

Precinct 1Precinct 2CTF for
Precinct 1*
CTF for
Precinct 2*
Total
U.S. Senator
Edward J. Markey3141618814451,801
Joseph P. Kennedy III9657253166572
Write-in01102
Blank10023
U.S. Representative
Katherine M. Clark3511789885272,044
Write-in116513
Blank594014181321
Register of Probate
Marilyn M. P. Devaney3151628174431,737
Write-in216514
Blank9456312165627
State Senator
Michael J. Barrett3371719344971,939
Write-in116412
Blank7347195112427
State Representative
Thomas M. Stanley3311658944891,879
Write-in21137
Blank7853240121492
Councillor
Tara E. DeCristoforo3171608404581,775
Write-in115310
Blank9358290152593

*CTF stands for Central Tabulating Facility, which totals all the votes cast by mail, absentee ballot, and early in-person voting.

 

Republican primary in Lincoln

Precinct 1Precinct 1CTF for
Precinct 1*
CTF for
Precinct 2*
Total
U.S. Senator
Shiva Ayyadurai3013201982
Kevin J. O'Connor2115381993
Write-in00011
Blank01102
U.S. Representative
Caroline Colarusso39265130146
Write-in10012
Blank1138830
Councillor
Write-in629522
Blank45275034156
State Senator
Write-in8111424
Blank43284835154
State Representative
Write-in6111422
Blank45284835156
Register of Probate
Write-in5110420
Blank46284935158

*CTF stands for Central Tabulating Facility, which totals all the votes cast by mail, absentee ballot, and early in-person voting.

Category: elections, government Leave a Comment

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