AUGUSTA, Maine - After weeks of political high drama, the Senate District 25 contest in southern Maine between Republican Cathy Manchester and Democrat Cathy Breen has been resolved by a special Senate Elections Committee.
It appears a mistake was made in the recount, and Breen has been declared the winner.
It was expected to be a very long day, with as many as 30 witnesses expected to testify. But after the ballot boxes from Long Island were actually opened, and the ballots counted under the supervision of Julie Flynn, the deputy secretary state and head of the Bureau of Elections, it was clear the recount conducted by Flynn’s office had made an error.
Flynn was questioned by Augusta Republican Sen. Roger Katz, chair of the committee, as to why the count showed 171 ballots, not the 192 found during the recount.
"I said I was as sure as I could be there were 192 ballots in there too, and I would eat my hat if I had one," Flynn said.
"That’s OK. So from your perspective has this mystery of CSI Augusta been solved?" Katz asked.
"I do, I believe we made an error at the recount," Flynn replied. "I wish we had counted them again."
To make sure, the committee counted all of the ballots again, and that count confirmed the election night totals from Long Island Town Clerk Brenda Singo. There were 171 ballots cast.
Singo says she is gratified the committee count confirmed her contention there was nothing sinister about the vote discrepancies, but a simple mistake in counting. Republican Cathy Manchester, provisionally seated as a senator last week, accepted the findings of the committee.
"I have full confidence that no one did anything wrong, that we had human error at the recount," Manchester said. "I believe the people of District 25 have spoken."
Sen. Katz says the proceedings were what he expected: The panel found the truth about the election. "Our hope was we would be able to get to the bottom of this, and we did," he said. "And we did it by being thorough as a group and working together."
The Democratic vice chair of the panel, York Sen. Dawn Hill, agreed. She praised Manchester and Cathy Breen for their conduct during the recount, and says she expects the recount process will be improved for future contests.
"From this process I think we learned some areas where there may be some weak links in the whole situation that we now are going to have the secretary of state take a closer look at it, tweak it a bit," Hill said. "So I think much good will come from this as well."
Breen will take the seat in January when the Legislature reconvenes.
Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau, in a statement, agreed with Hill, saying he expects the election recount process will be addressed by lawmakers next month. He also congratulated Cathy Breen on her election and says it’s time to move on and address the state’s problems.
