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Date: 5/11/2021
WESTERN MASS. – Local elections have recently taken place in Goshen and Worthington on May 1, and Chesterfield and Williamsburg on May 3. While positions and results varied across towns, one aspect stayed the same – small turnouts.
Town clerks shared their election outcomes with Reminder Publishing.
Goshen Town Clerk Kristen Estelle said there are 803 registered voters in town.
For this election in particular, there were 11 total vote by mail voters and 51 in-person voters. Sixty-two ballots were cast with a voter turnout percentage of 8.
Estelle received 59 votes for a three-year term as town clerk.
Additional position openings were for town assessor, which Gina Papineau won with 57 votes. Tiffany Marcinek won uncontested for the Board of Health position and for the Finance Committee, Angela Otis also won uncontested.
In Worthington, Town Clerk Katrin Kaminsky said 10 people were re-elected to their positions and everyone ran unopposed. Kaminsky told Reminder Publishing only one race with multiple candidates took place on their May 1 election. The position was for the Worthington School Committee.
Results showed Pam Thompson received 146 votes, Debra Clapp with 115 votes and Peter Ricci, 84 votes. Seventy-three ballots were left blank.
Of the 989 registered voters, there were only 209 ballots.
Kaminsky said, “This was a typical turnout.”
In the midst of a pandemic, many Worthington residents chose to vote my mail, she noted.
All in all, Kaminsky said the election “went smoothly.”
Sandy Wickland, Chesterfield town clerk, said only 54 voters came in out of the 972 registered.
"This was just a hair over 5 percent – not unusual,” added Wickland.
There were no contested races.
Wickland shared that since becoming town clerk in 1987, these were the lowest votes she had ever seen. Her assessment was that COVID-19 has kept people away.
Election results show that all Chesterfield incumbents were re-elected as follows: Select Board, Roger A. Fuller; assessor, Crystal Ames; Board of Health, John Chandler; library trustee, Linda Urban-Lyon; Planning Board, George Sturtevant and Mark Klitzke; Chesterfield/Goshen Regional School Committee, Geoffery Gougeon; and moderator, Russell Peotter.
Wickland said, “The two-year seat on the Planning Board remains vacant, as no write-in received more than one vote. This seat was vacant because the member, Maureen Borg, moved from town.”
Similarly, the three-year seat on the Hampshire Regional School Committee also remains vacant, as no write in received more than one vote. The seat was left vacant when the current member, Carole Bergeron, did not run for re-election.
“The one-year seat on the Hampshire Regional School Committee was vacant when Trish Colson-Montgomery did not run for the one year position. She had been appointed by the Select Board last year,” explained Wickland.
Megan Shiels-Willard received the only write-in vote for the School Committee position. She has not yet accepted the offer.
Wickland’s daughter, Denise Wickland, was newly elected to constable. This seat was previously occupied by her father, Gary W. Wickland, who died last fall.
With election turnout slow, Wickland said, “We would certainly like to see more interest in elections.”
Williamsburg Town Clerk Brenda Lessard said, “We had no contested races.”
She added that 147 votes were cast, representing just over 7 percent of the 2,053 registered voters.
“Usually when there are no contests the turnout is light. I had more people come in looking to drop off their tax bills than vote,” said Lessard.
To most, Lessard said this election was considered “boring.”