Marblehead Vote Count Lasts Deep Into Night

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Heavy voter turnout for two ballot questions turned into a long day and even longer night at the polls in Marblehead on Tuesday as photocopied ballots had to be hand counted in the annual town election after printed ballots ran short in the afternoon.

As of 1 a.m. — five hours after the close of the polls in the 2022 annual town election — members of the town clerk's office were still counting ballots at Abbot Hall.

(Check back with Patch Wednesday morning for election results and more coverage.)

At stake was the fate of a $3.1 million Proposition 2 1/2 general override for a school supplemental budget, a capital projects debt service exemption and town office posts ranging from Select Board, to School Committee to town moderator.

While local spring elections generally do not have overwhelming turnout that was not the case in Marblehead where the precincts ran out of official ballots, causing photocopied ballots to be used and then hand-counted because the voting machines cannot read them.

The school district sought the $3.1 million general override for what officials said were overdue and necessary improvements to security, technology, curriculum and staffing to ensure an "exemplary education" for Marblehead students.

The school override was also to fund free kindergarten for town students as well as new staff positions, including a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director.

School officials held several lengthy forums pressing the need for the supplemental funds, but opponents of the general override that would cost the average single-family home in the town an extra 4 percent on property taxes per year argued the permanent increase was too much for a town almost assuredly facing another town override next year because of structural town budget issues.

If passed, the override would add about $310.53 per year to the median single-family home bill of a Marblehead resident with a property assessed at $738,000. Property assessed at $400,000 would incur a $168.31 increase, while a $1 million home would incur a $420.77 increase.

While the Finance Committee and Town Meeting members voted to endorse the school override,
there was the acknowledgement that the town will almost surely be seeking the separate override next year.

There were seven candidates — including all five incumbents — for five Select Board positions and three candidates — including incumbent Sarah Fox — for two School Committee spots.

There was also a contested vote for the open town moderator position, as well as contested elections for cemetery commission, Board of Health and Municipal Light Commission.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)