Mansfield Not Combining Town and Special Primary Elections

The Mansfield Board of Selectmen decided on Wednesday not to combine the town’s election with the upcoming special primary for John Kerry’s seat in congress.

The main reason, the board agreed, was that it would be earlier than the annual town meeting and would potentially put newly elected officials in an awkward position.

“We want to have the selectmen race after the town meeting,” town manager William Ross said.

Ross said a newly elected town official, like a selectman or school committee member would most likely not have been involved in the process to create the budget and therefore unable to defend the previous board’s decisions on the subject.

Ross added the state said it would reimburse the town for the primary, but after the fiscal year ends, putting an additional burden on the town.

He said that both he and town clerk Mary Ann Staples said they do not recommend combining the elections, also because it could cause confusion.

“Mary Ann’s concerned about voter check in and check out,” he said. “The ballot for each election would have to be segregated in the end requiring some additional time to get the results out.”