Keep focus on voters

Party politics has taken over the race for House District 102, much to the detriment of the 3,400 Standish voters who cast ballots Nov. 7.

The last few weeks have been a confusing whirlwind for participants and observers. First, Democrat Mike Shaw was up 13 votes after the original vote on Election Day. Because the vote tally was so close, Incumbent Republican Gary Moore called for a recount. The recount, held Monday, Nov. 20, turned the tables on the election with Moore coming out ahead of Shaw by six votes.

Had Shaw conceded at that point, Moore would be Standish’s representative. But Shaw chose not to concede, and now the matter will go to the bipartisan Election Committee, which will investigate the election and present its findings and make a recommendation to the Legislature, which will make the final decision.

What makes things even more interesting is the disparity between the number of ballots counted and the number of names checked off on voter registration lists. Part of what the Election Committee will investigate will be why there appears to be 66 extra ballots.

Were they the result of ballot clerks forgetting to check off names of voters on Election Day? Republicans are saying that could have happened, but Democrats believe 66 unchecked names is too much human error, even for 2006’s busy Election Day. Or, did someone enter a few extra ballots into the machine? With ballot clerks under the control of Town Clerk Mary Chapman’s watchful gaze, voter fraud seems unlikely.

Both candidates have reason to believe they might have won this race. We have a 13-vote win by Michael Shaw on Nov. 7 and a 6-vote win by Gary Moore on Nov. 20. We have 66 votes that we’re really not sure about. To us, that equals a tied race that needs a full investigation to find out what happened. And before the Election Committee weighs in, no one else should, especially the politicians. But, sadly, the wait-and-see approach has not materialized.

As if there were no viable alternative, the Democrats wasted no time announcing that Shaw would sit in District 102’s seat come Dec. 6, the first day of the new session. Moore and the Republicans are right for feeling snubbed. Moore, the incumbent, should not have to abdicate his seat. It seems silly that after a careful recount, which had a dozen people on both sides of the political fence counting, that the 6-vote margin of victory doesn’t hold as much credibility as the result from Election Day that had Shaw ahead by 13 votes.

Josh Tardy, the new Republican leader in the House, clearly laments the decision to allow Shaw the nod:

“It should be clear to any objective observer, including the Secretary of State’s office, that the so-called apparent winner was not the actual winner,” Rep. Tardy said. “It would be a miscarriage of the democratic process to ignore the hand recount and seat the candidate who lost. The winner of that election, Gary Moore, deserves to be seated on that first day with the rest of the House.”

Tardy is right, but not completely. Instead of sending either Shaw or Moore to represent Standish, which would leave the other unaware of Legislative decisions, both men should sit temporarily in the Legislature. This would allow both to attend party caucuses and hearings and sessions of the House so they would both be up to speed. They could sit next to each other as well. (According to both parties, both get along well and would have no problem tag-teaming the Standish seat for a few weeks until matters are resolved.)

Naysayers of this proposal would argue that it wouldn’t work because both cannot vote. However, both candidates should abstain from voting because the race is still undecided.

Tardy is right to contest Shaw’s ability to represent Standish while the race remains undecided. But he is not right to intimidate Shaw into conceding, as if the 6-vote margin were some sort of irreversible mandate.

“Despite a careful hand count of every ballot, which clearly shows that Gary Moore won this race, the challenger refuses to concede,” said Rep. Tardy in release to Maine’s media. “With the refusal of Michael Shaw to concede, the issue will now go to the House Elections Committee…”

Tardy is wrong to criticize Shaw in this condescending and bullying way. Tardy is simply playing heavy-handed politics. It’s the sort of politicking that Mainers are tired of. Tardy and Moore should be concerned with determining which candidate received the most votes from Standish residents. They should both be concerned about the 66-vote disparity, not dismissive of it.

And everyone should take a breather and let the Election Committee make their recommendations.

-John Balentine, editor