Contested Newton Write-In Election Isn't Going To Court

NEWTON, MA — In the end it came down to voter confusion and seven votes said the write-in candidate for Ward 4 city councilor Allison Sharma after officials and volunteers spent hours recounting the ballots on Dec. 2. But she will not be taking her battle to court, she announced Monday.

“Though it was very close and I believe that I would have a reasonable chance of prevailing in a court challenge, I believe it’s important to have closure so that on January 1, 2018, the city council has its full complement of 24 councilors, whose election is not being challenged, ready to conduct the people’s business," she wrote in a statement.

After voting ended on Election Day in November, Sharma, who was already concerned about folks accidentally voting for her in the At-Large race instead of the Ward 4 race calculated that with the number of write ins logged, it was possible she was in the lead against her opponent Chris Markiewicz who was running unopposed on the ballot until she jumped in at the last minute.

The city hall tally showed Markiewicz with a 160-vote lead. Her neighbor had told her that he had voted for her in the At-Large section rather than the Ward 4 seat write in spot on the opposite side of the ballot.

There were more than 900 disputed ballots challenged at the recount, said Sharma. And she along with volunteers, her lawyer, Markiewicz's lawyer, and city officials were there til well after 11 p.m.

Sharma had figured it would be over by noon, and told her volunteers such.

"I was mortified," she said. "But everything takes longer than you'd think," she told Patch Monday night. "I can’t understate the level of confusion and number of permutations on Saturday. It really was quite an undertaking."

There were 71 ballots where voters placed her name in the write-in spot for Councilor At Large, a race in which she was not running and at the same time filled in the bubble for Markiewicz, essentially voting for both. Those votes did not count toward the tally for the Ward 4 City Councilor seat.

If she had been given credit for these additional votes she would have received 1,189 votes, 64 more than Markiewicz.

But in the end 1,118 voted for Sharma and 1,125 for Markiewicz.

“I am incredibly pleased and proud that in just a few short months, we were able to almost pull off the impossible by nearly winning a write-in campaign,” Sharma said. “I am especially heartened to know that 1189 ward 4 voters wrote my name in on their ballot – albeit not all in the proper place."

She said what stood out to her about the vote as that so many voters took the extra step to either write her name in or apply one of her stickers to their ballot. And that, she said, confirmed the principles on which she campaigned: That Newton needs to improve the diversity of housing options in the city and to work to ensure that the village centers are vibrant, walkable, and accessible, really resonated with voters, she said.

Sharma mounted the write-in campaign after the 14-year incumbent Ward 4 Councilor Jay Harney announced that he would not seek re-election. Harney withdrew his nomination papers after the filing deadline, leaving Chris Markiewicz as the only candidate to appear on the ballot. So Sharma jumped in with a sticker campaign to make it a race and give voters a choice.

Sharma praised the work of the city clerk and assistant clerk, the city solicitors, the election commission, the election workers, the public safety officials and the volunteers and attorneys representing both her and her opponent.

City Clerk David Olson called the write in campaign extremely rare during the November election.

"The city should be extraordinarily proud of how it carried itself. It was true Democracy in action,” Sharma said.

Sharma said it was too soon to make any plans for running again in 2019, but left the possibility open.The first time candidate said she learned from this experience and not just about running for office.

"I've lived in Auburndale for nearly 17 years, had a feeling I sort of knew my village, but going out and knocking on doors really was very informative and eye opening. People are so interesting and they're really thoughtful and the things that are on their minds are really varied. You just can't generalize that a Ward 4 resident is like this or that."

She said for the last five or so years as she's been getting more and more involved in local and city issues and writing elected officials on the issues, she is has seen the importance of being thus involved.

"The more you get involved the more you realize how important it is to get involved. I want to continue to stay on top of the issues and speak up about things that are going on in the ward that I feel are important," she said.

Previously on Patch:

Newton Ward 4 Write-In Recount Results: 7 Vote Difference

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Photo of city hall by Jenna Fisher/Patch Photo of Sharma courtesy.