By Carol Britton Meyer

The town is heading back to court to request that all ballots from the May 15 election be counted, including those cast during the extended hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. after a fire temporarily blocked the road to polls. Town Clerk Lori West said Wednesday that the emergency motion suggests that if the court denies that request, the town has requested permission to reopen the polls to allow additional votes to be cast.

Until the issues surrounding the election are resolved and the results certified, current town officials remain in office to ensure the continuity of town government, West said.

The select board – including Domenico Sestito, who did not run for re-election, and Chair Donna Pursel, who was not re-elected – met Wednesday night to hear a report on finalist candidates from the town manager search committee, among other business items.

Click here to read Town Clerk Lori West’s full statement and the court filings.

On May 17, Brockton Superior Court Justice Brian S. Glenny denied the town’s emergency request to count 80 votes that were cast after the traditional closure of the polls at 8 p.m. As a result, both the certification of the election results and seating of new officials remain on hold. In his ruling, Glenny said the he believed that the road blockage and the message given to some drivers that they would be unable to vote means that Hull’s election results are “not valid.” He recommended that a new election be held, although he stopped short of ordering a re-vote.

In his decision, Glenny also indicated that at least one race, the Hull Redevelopment Authority contest between Patrick Finn and Daniel Kernan, has a 15-vote margin, which is “close enough to be impacted by the blocking of the road to the polling place.”

On Wednesday night (May 24), West reported to candidates and others that the town has filed a second emergency motion with a request for an expedited hearing, asking the court “to allow all votes cast in good faith at the May 15, 2023 annual town election, meaning all the votes cast between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., to be counted, and, in turn, to allow the 2023 annual election to be certified.”

The motion also states that the town believes this option “is the least possible disruption to the normal process of elections to finalize the 2023 annual town election as well as protecting the rights of all voters. Additionally, it should be noted that the Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division supports this option and strongly recommends against throwing out the over 2,400 votes cast that day and holding another election.”

The second motion also explains the details of what led up to West’s decision to extend the voting hours, why the town believes the election results should be certified based on the more than 2,400 votes that were cast, why a new election is not in the public interest, and how the votes that were cast between 8 and 10 p.m. were handled.

“At the conclusion of the election, the town clerk segregated and did not process the ballots cast during the extended hours because she believed a court order was necessary to include them in the vote totals,” according to the filing.

In the event that the judge does not agree with the town’s request, “we have also proposed for his consideration re-opening the polls for a limited period to allow those voters who were affected by the road closure and/or delay in casting their vote. If the court believes this is what is required, only those who did not cast a ballot on May 15, 2023, would be eligible to participate. The Elections Division does not recommend this course of action, however,” West said.

The court documents, along with the West’s latest statement, are posted on the town’s website and are available at www.hulltimes.com.

“We will provide information regarding a hearing date once we have been notified by the court,” West said.

In a statement issued May 20, West said that an elected officer of the town serves until his or her successor is elected and sworn in, or “qualified.”

While the judge’s decision called into question the validity of the election “due to the unfortunate disruption of the voting,” West pointed out that “although raising questions about whether voters may have been excluded, [the judge] did not declare the election invalid or mandate a new election.”

Because the annual town election results are not yet final, candidates appearing on the ballot have not yet been elected and cannot be sworn into office. “The elected incumbents of those offices, regardless of whether they ran for re-election, remain in office as hold over officials with all the same powers and duties they exercised prior to the date of the election.”

In addition to Sestito and Pursel, other officials, such as school committee member Stephanie Peters, who did not run for re-election, also is still a current member, as is Hull Redevelopment Authority member Max Walder, who also did not seek another term.

This is a “highly unusual situation with few historic examples to follow,” West said in the May 20 statement. “I will continue to try to balance the interests of the candidates and the voters of the town who did and did not cast ballots, to ensure a fair, equitable, and transparent 2023 election process in the Town of Hull.”

Christopher Haraden contributed to this report.

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