SWANVILLE, Maine — A ballot mix-up in Swanville has left local voters and officials sorting through how to correct a pre-Election Day mistake that omitted two local referendum questions from absentee and early-voting ballots. The omission — first noticed on social media — has drawn concern from residents and could prompt the Maine secretary of state to review the situation and advise corrective steps.
According to Swanville Select Board Chair Cindy Boguen, the town mailed absentee ballot packets that included only the statewide ballot, leaving out the separate local referendum ballot used in Regional School Unit 71 communities. Boguen confirmed the mistake on Wednesday, calling it the result of a miscommunication inside the Town Office.
“The ballots involved were absentee ballots,” Boguen wrote in an email to the Midcoast Villager. “We are in the process of finding out what occurred and when.” She added that a Facebook post alerted her to the error only after ballots had already gone out.
RSU 71 voters were asked to decide two local referendums to approve bonds not exceeding $3.5 million to upgrade the athletic facilities at Belfast Area High School and to authorize the school board to negotiate with Northport over accepting special education secondary students.
With the number of affected voters still unclear, residents have raised questions about the validity of the RSU 71 referendum results and what state officials may require to protect voters’ rights.
When Maine municipalities have issued incomplete or defective ballots in the past, the secretary of state’s office has sometimes stepped in to advise on or administer a correction. In a scenario like Swanville’s, the state could direct the town to issue a supplemental ballot containing only the missing local questions. Every absentee or early voter who received the incomplete packet would then be mailed this supplemental ballot, along with an explanation that they need vote only on the missing portion. Previously returned statewide ballots would remain valid, and the supplemental ballots would be processed under normal absentee voting safeguards to prevent duplicate voting.
The town might also be required to publicly announce the omission — through its website, posted notices and local media — to ensure affected voters understand how to obtain and return the supplemental ballot. If the mistake is discovered too close to Election Day, the secretary of state could authorize additional time for absentee ballot returns so voters are not disenfranchised.
A full re-vote is possible but considered unlikely. In most past instances when a ballot error affected only local questions, the supplemental ballot process has been sufficient to correct the mistake. The secretary of state could, however, advise the town to postpone certifying the local referendum results if the number of missing ballots is large enough to influence the outcome.
Once any supplemental ballots are returned and counted, their results would be added to the existing totals. Only the local portion of the ballot is affected; statewide votes cast by Swanville residents remain valid and unaffected by the error.
Swanville officials are still determining how many ballots were incomplete and are awaiting possible guidance from Augusta. If the secretary of state decides a corrective process is needed, it is likely the town will have to notify affected voters and distribute supplemental ballots.
While unsettling for residents who believed they had completed their civic duty, the procedures available to the secretary of state provide a pathway to ensure Swanville voters can fully participate in the RSU 71 referendum, even if it requires a second ballot to do so.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
