The Close Vote: What If It Happened Here?

By Steve Bigham

All eyes continued to be fixed on Florida this week as the closest presidential race in American history is still unfolding there. While the initial surprise has worn off, resignation has now set in to the fact that we still do not know who the next US President is going to be.

The next President has been elected. The problem is we can’t figure out who it is. The ballots were being counted and re-counted again and again this week as the race in Florida (and New Mexico, Oregon, etc.) drew tighter and tighter.

Former Newtowner Jean Salvatore, who has been gone from the town clerk’s office for nearly a year, is now answering phones in a Flagler County, Florida, office where re-counting is taking place. She phoned Town Clerk Cindy Simon this week to say how chaotic things were down in the Sunshine State.

Here in Newtown, the election fireworks have subsided. There was no re-counting of any votes and the predictions that Connecticut would favor Al Gore were actually on the money. Mark Nielsen has not called for a re-count after his convincing loss to incumbent Jim Maloney in the US Congressional Fifth District. State Senator John McKinney’s victory did not require a re-count; neither did Pat Shea’s win in the 112th District. There were no candidates to contest Julia Wasserman and John Stripp’s victories. They ran unopposed.

But what if there was to be a close race in Newtown? That’s what some residents, including the town clerk, were wondering this week. What if next year’s first selectman race went down to the wire? What if it ended in a tie? This year’s presidential race has proven that anything can happen.

In the case of a close race in Newtown, the town’s election officials would turn to the Secretary of State’s procedure manual, which instructs them on what steps to take. According to the manual, a close race requires a re-count or “re-canvassing” of the votes. This is usually called for when the voting separation is less than 20 votes.

If a local election ends in a tie, state law requires the town to have a run-off three weeks after the first vote.

Incidentally, in the case of a tie in a primary election, state law requires that the registrar of voters “draw a lot,” which is another way of saying “flip a coin.” And, while no one is believed to have ever won by the flip of a coin in Newtown, there have been plenty of close races.

In 1973, Frank DeLucia defeated Jerry Frawley in the race for first selectman, but he only won it after a re-count showed he had prevailed by a mere seven votes. Mr DeLucia was involved in another barnburner in 1975 when Jack Rosenthal beat him handily in the first selectman’s race. Still up for grabs, however, was one of the remaining seats on the Board of Selectman. On Election Night, Mr DeLucia was in a close race with Zita McMahon. A re-count was called for, and Mr DeLucia managed to hold on.

Mrs McMahon questioned the validity of some 289 absentee ballots, although she never pursued it in court. Mrs McMahon had received more votes than Mr DeLucia at the polls, but was defeated after the absentee ballots were tallied.

Edgar Beers was also involved in a pair of extremely close races for the Legislative Council, including the 1981 election, when he and Ted Haynos each received 880 votes in District 1. After a recount confirmed it was in fact a tie, a runoff was held two weeks later, and Mr Beers prevailed.

The longtime Newtowner earned the nickname “Landslide Beers” for his two close elections. The other close election for the council occurred a few years earlier when Mr Beers defeated Paul Smith by just two votes.

Three years ago, Karen Blawie defeated Sutherland Denlinger for a Legislative Council District 2 seat in a close race. Mrs Blawie received just five more votes than her opponents, which required an automatic re-count.

This week, Newtown’s registrars of voters said this year’s presidential election highlighted how differently each state handles the election.

“I think it’s time to modify the system,” noted Registrar Karin Aurelia.

Registrar Linda Connor says she expects there will be some changes four years from now, just in case it happens again. But most believe the circus-like atmosphere surrounding this year’s wild election may never happen again.

“I don’t think you’ll see it in our lifetime,” Mrs Connor said.

Both registrars said they hope this year’s election proves once and for all that every vote does count.

“So register to vote,” they said. “Do it now so that you will be all set four years from now.”