City officials say a simple error was resolved in less than an hour
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
Despite some concerns and questions raised on social media sites and in other publications, Biddeford voters can rest assured that their votes from the city’s June 9 municipal and state primary elections were accurately tabulated and recorded.
On Tuesday morning, rumors began circulating about a “missing thumb-drive” that contained election results from the city of Biddeford.
According to Biddeford’s interim city clerk, several thumb-drive data storage units are used to transfer voting data from the city to the state.
The confusion was created when a portable drive containing local results was inadvertently swapped with a portable drive containing the city’s state primary results.
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” said Lisa Ward, Biddeford’s interim city clerk. “All the drives look the same, so it was just a matter of swapping them to correct the mistake.”
Ward says that all voting results are tabulated following strict state guidelines. Furthermore, in addition to being stored on portable drives, Ward prints two copies of the tabulations.
The redundancy, she said, ensures the integrity of the election results.
Ward explained that the portable data drives are retrieved by a detail from the Maine State Police, which then transports the data drives to the Maine Secretary of State’s office in Augusta.
Ward said the situation was resolved in less than an hour.
Considering what is expected to be a record voter turnout for a June election in Biddeford, Ward said she was very happy about how smoothly the overall process played out in Biddeford.
“It was a good election,” Ward said. “I was backed up by a great team of clerks – and everyone – the voters, the candidates and the observers – we’re so polite and cooperative.”
Ward noted that the June 9 election was the first in which she was responsible for oversight.
Biddeford City Clerk Robin Patterson resigned her position in April, and the city is now in the process of seeking a full-time, permanent city clerk.
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