“It was disgusting.”

 Wiscasset Selectmen’s Vice Chairman Ben Rines Jr. on Tuesday night had those strong words and others for the stations at which local voters completed their ballots. He called for a return to privacy, over the situation he described to fellow board members.

“You stand up there and if there’s 10 people or a hundred people standing in line, everybody stands and watches you while you vote. And I just believe it was totally wrong.

“If you want to sit there and scratch your head or your chin, shuffle your feet, think about how you want to vote, you have a right to do that ... and not have every Tom, Dick and Harry gawking at you, like hurry up, hurry up so I can get in line and be next ... I am absolutely appalled by it.”

Fellow board member Bill Barnes said the setup surprised him, too. “I thought it was inappropriate.”

Town Manager Marian Anderson said the board would have an opportunity to hear from Town Clerk Christine Wolfe on the matter. Then Rines told Anderson she could tell Wolfe ahead of time that he will make a motion for a return to voting booths “no matter what she says, because I feel that strongly about it that people should have a right to privacy when they go in to vote ... I don’t see how there is any argument that what happened today was of benefit to the voter. I can’t imagine it,” he said.

A Wiscasset Newspaper reporter stopped by the closed polls at Wiscasset Community Center following the selectmen’s meeting. Wolfe was not able to comment at the time because the ballot-counting was under way.

School referendum hearing date set

The board set a November 20 public hearing on the local referendum over the School Committee’s decision to close Wiscasset Primary School next year. The hearing at Wiscasset Middle School starts at 6 p.m. Voters will decide December 9 whether or not to go along with the Committee’s decision.

No more parking on Morton Street

After hearing from Wiscasset Police Chief Troy Cline and residents about Morton Street’s narrowness and the issues that presents, selectmen went 4-0 with a parking ban on both sides of the street. Some speakers also questioned the street’s use for access to Wiscasset Middle School. More research will be done on that, Anderson said.

Board recognizes American Legion post

Selectmen decided 4-0 to nominate American Legion Post 54 of Wiscasset for a “Spirit of America” award. Rines suggested the Legion due to its project that has gotten American flags mounted on utility poles in town.

“That’s an excellent idea,” Board Chairman Pam Dunning said about Rines’ proposal.