Wednesday, November 14, 2012
After one machine breaks and two other go on the fritz during the national election, Mansfield is looking into new options.
The day after the presidential election, Mansfield selectmen discussed the possibility of replacing the ballot machines for all elections. “We do at some point have to discuss the machines,” selectman Jess Aptowitz said. “Those machines are old. It’s time for to probably look at new machines. I think the technology of those machines are two or three generations back.” While neither the selectmen or town clerk Marianne Staples know exactly how old the machines are, she said that they had them when she worked in Blackstone and they were replaced in 2003. “They’re getting sick so it’s time to look at replacing them,” Aptowitz said. Selectmen chair Olivier Kozlowski said that even replacement parts for the machines are unavailable. “We’ve got …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Mansfield town clerk Marianne Staples said election was a success despite record voter turnout and machine problems.
Recently appointed Mansfield town clerk Marianne Staples said this year’s national election in Mansfield was extremely successful, despite numerous obstacles. This year saw a total breakdown of one voting machine as well as glitches in two others. “It was a marathon,” she said. “But I wasn’t alone. There’s a lot of people in between. There was the school helping to set up, the DPW helping to set up and the police doing detail and traffic… and my support staff is second to none.” Staples said that there is a backup machine for just such occasions and the switch was made in time not to affect voter numbers. “We had a mild glitch in one of the other machines as well,” she said. “For the most part [voters] were very patient, even when the …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
The GOP candidate for Congress voted at the Freeman-Kennedy School in Norfolk this morning along with his wife Hope.
For the first time in almost 30 years, the winner of tonight’s 4th Congressional Election will not be Barney Frank but rather a new member of Congress. With Frank retiring when his term ends in January, either Democrat Joe Kennedy or Republican Sean Bielat will succeed Frank as the district’s congressman. At a little after 10 a.m., Bielat, along with his wife, Hope, and two young children, Theo and Seraphina, stopped at the Freedman-Kennedy School in Norfolk to cast their ballots for the general election. For Bielat, this is his second attempt at running for Congress, losing to Frank in the 2010 election. “I think I made the right choices in the voting booth. Feel good about who we voted,” Bielat said about voting. The GOP candidate will …
