Election workers retallied Wiscasset’s June 13 votes on June 22, with changes in a couple of numbers but no changes in the final outcomes of ballot items, town meeting moderator Susan Blagden said.

No candidates or other parties had requested a recount, officials have said. Blagden called for the new tally after the one on election night took place with the doors closed, preventing public view as state law requires.

Blagden immediately took responsibility for the error, saying she knew the law and forgot it. Asked for comment following the new tally, Blagden thanked the ballot clerks for coming in on a beautiful afternoon Thursday for a tally no one asked for. 

Maine Municipal Association had recommended it after Town Manager Marian Anderson contacted MMA with questions June 14.

Two reporters and Selectman Katharine Martin-Savage witnessed the new tally in the municipal building’s hearing room. Martin-Savage stayed for the first hour and a quarter. “I’m a newly elected person, so I thought I should come,” she said. “I wasn't concerned about anything at all. They're all good people, and everybody makes a mistake once in a while.”

Blagden said the new tally changed the number of no votes for article 30, from 226 on June 13 to 266. The yes votes for that article, funding the Office of Selectmen at $27,247 still prevailed with 448. Blagden said the no’s also picked up three votes on article 40, which funded the fire department at $137,616. The new tally resulted in 59 no votes on a section of tape that on election night was tallied at 56 no’s, she said. The yes’s still won by more than a 3-1 margin.

Blagden said Thursday’s proceeding retallied the numbers on the tape from voting machines and re-tallied write-in votes. She said there was no basis for a recount, which would have involved other steps and the state’s OK, because the counting took place in public view on Election Day, via the use of the voting machines at the polls.

Town Clerk Linda Perry did not yet have a cost on the second tally, but said the only expense was the workers’ pay, which would be based on their respective jobs for the tally.