By Christopher Haraden

The month-long uncertainty over the results of Hull’s annual town election came to a close on Tuesday, as 382 more people cast their ballots in a court-ordered extension of voting hours.

On May 15, a three-alarm fire on Q Street caused the closure of Nantasket Avenue for about 90 minutes, blocking vehicles from reaching the polling place at the high school. The town clerk kept the polls open for two extra hours that day and sought approval from the court the following day.

A Plymouth Superior Court judge initially denied the counting of the 80 votes cast between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., then reversed that decision and ordered the polls reopened for approximately the same time that the road was closed.

Most of the initial results – votes cast from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 15 – were unchanged after all the votes were counted, although the additional voting hours flipped the race for a five-year seat on the Hull Redevelopment Authority. A month ago, Patrick Finn clung to a 15-vote lead over Daniel Kernan; on Tuesday, Kernan claimed a 126-vote victory, 1,340-1,214.

The school committee results also were clarified, as write-in candidate Regan Yakubian won the second seat on the school committee with 1,110 votes, behind incumbent Ernest Minelli with 1,204. Fay Ferency finished a close third with 1,085, and Colby Mahoney had 705 votes.

On the select board, Jason McCann and Jerry Taverna topped a field of seven candidates for two three-year terms. McCann had 1,414 votes and Taverna finished with 978, followed by David Gibbons with 668, incumbent Donna Pursel with 604, Kathleen Barclay with 474, Moraiba Reyes with 374, and Philip Bellone with 257 votes.

In the race for a two-year term, Brian McCarthy again finished first with 1,224 votes, ahead of James Ianiri with 942 and Steven Greenberg with 560 votes.

Adrienne Paquin won a three-year term on the redevelopment authority, defeating Edwin Parsons, 1,640-806. In the ballot’s other contested race, Emily Garr defeated Sasha Green, 1,307-670, for a two-year term on the board of library trustees.

This year’s election was unprecedented in Hull, and the lack of certified results – known as a “failure to elect” under the law – meant that incumbent officials were “held over” in office until new members were legally seated. Some boards canceled meetings immediately after the election because of the uncertainty, although pressing business required officials to take action.

On May 24, the select board met to continue the search for a new town manager with two members present who were on the board prior to the May 15 election but who would no longer be serving if the results had been certified – Pursel, who finished fourth in the balloting, and Domenico Sestito, who did not seek another term. The board rescheduled meetings for the three town manager candidates until tonight (June 15) in order to allow the newly elected officials to conduct the interviews.

On May 26, Town Clerk Lori West and town attorneys appeared before Judge Brian S. Glenny on to seek clarification of an earlier decision that denied the extended voting hours on Election Day. Glenny also had said that the court believed the results were “not valid” and that the “only just remedy” would be an entirely new election, but he did not order the town to start from scratch. In his decision, the judge said he was concerned that some voters who were detoured by police were told that “they would not be able to vote due to the emergency but were not informed at that time that there would be remedial action to ensure residents’ right to vote.”

“We reiterated our position that the town, through the town clerk, and following consultation with and approval of the state Elections Division director, had offered voters extra time to come to the polls to enfranchise as many voters as possible,” West explained in an email to candidates.

“We emphasized further that those who voted during the town-sanctioned extended voting hours, like all of the people who voted during regular voting hours, cast their ballots in good faith and reliance on the town, and me as the town clerk, to run an election consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth,” West said.

Glenny eventually agreed and ordered the extra two hours of balloting to ensure that voters could be adequately notified. The June 13 polling was open to anyone who did not vote on May 15, regardless of whether the reason they did not cast a ballot.

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