(Aug. 17, 2017) An underwhelming crowd of four, including one reporter, joined members of the Ocean Pines Elections Committee and two workers from B. Donald Kimball Inc. on Friday for the first public counting of election ballots in association history.
The tiny contingent of observers contrasted with the dozens of people who gathered in the administration building lobby last year to protest the practice of counting during closed sessions. Some candidates did try to catch a glimpse of the action by peering into the boardroom through its large, glass window.
Apparently, there was not much to see, as John Connell, from B. Donald Kimball, sat at a laptop while another worker fed several thousand ballots into an old Scantron ballot-counting machine.
Members of the elections committee observed, but did not take part in the actual counting, and sipped coffee while chatting with the sparse audience.
Two candidates, Dr. Colette Horn and Nicole Schafer Crosariol, were there for close to the entirety of the roughly two-hour session. Another homeowner, Gary Miller, was there for about a half hour in the small Marlin Room of the community center, which can hold about three dozen people.
Town of Berlin Councilman Thom Gulyas, whose company, ACE Printing & Mailing, handles printing and collection of ballots, was there for about 20 minutes at beginning of the session. Gulyas also separates the ballots from their coded envelopes, which ensures each property is only allowed one ballot.
A handful of ballots were apparently damaged by the post office, and about four dozen were disqualified because they voted for more than two candidates.
Preliminary numbers indicated 7,492 ballots were mailed out and about 3,500 were returned. Roughly 3,485 were run through the Scantron, for a 47 percent voter turnout.
The counting concluded at about 10:45 a.m. and ballots and equipment were taken back to the administration building about five minutes later, presumably to be locked away in a file cabinet until next year.
Elections Committee Chairman Steve Tuttle was given a printout of the results and sealed them in an envelope. They would be announced on the following day, during the annual meeting.
Tuttle, who along with the rest of the committee members were all new this year, said the counting went “pretty well.” He was the only one permitted to see the election results on Friday.
The tiny contingent of observers contrasted with the dozens of people who gathered in the administration building lobby last year to protest the practice of counting during closed sessions. Some candidates did try to catch a glimpse of the action by peering into the boardroom through its large, glass window.
Apparently, there was not much to see, as John Connell, from B. Donald Kimball, sat at a laptop while another worker fed several thousand ballots into an old Scantron ballot-counting machine.
Members of the elections committee observed, but did not take part in the actual counting, and sipped coffee while chatting with the sparse audience.
Two candidates, Dr. Colette Horn and Nicole Schafer Crosariol, were there for close to the entirety of the roughly two-hour session. Another homeowner, Gary Miller, was there for about a half hour in the small Marlin Room of the community center, which can hold about three dozen people.
Town of Berlin Councilman Thom Gulyas, whose company, ACE Printing & Mailing, handles printing and collection of ballots, was there for about 20 minutes at beginning of the session. Gulyas also separates the ballots from their coded envelopes, which ensures each property is only allowed one ballot.
A handful of ballots were apparently damaged by the post office, and about four dozen were disqualified because they voted for more than two candidates.
Preliminary numbers indicated 7,492 ballots were mailed out and about 3,500 were returned. Roughly 3,485 were run through the Scantron, for a 47 percent voter turnout.
The counting concluded at about 10:45 a.m. and ballots and equipment were taken back to the administration building about five minutes later, presumably to be locked away in a file cabinet until next year.
Elections Committee Chairman Steve Tuttle was given a printout of the results and sealed them in an envelope. They would be announced on the following day, during the annual meeting.
Tuttle, who along with the rest of the committee members were all new this year, said the counting went “pretty well.” He was the only one permitted to see the election results on Friday.