School Committee Race To Be Decided By Final Vote Counted Monday

WOBURN, MA — It turns out every vote really does count: in Woburn's school committee race, there is currently a difference of just one vote between second and third place, and it could shrink further. Both John Wells, currently in second, and Pat Chisholm, in third, will both be re-elected, but Wells is in line for a four-year term, while Chisholm, alongside the fourth-place and fifth-place vote getters, will have to run again in just two years. The final count will be done Monday morning at 8:30 a.m., when the city registrars will open a single overseas ballot, which has the power to tie up the race.

"I'm hoping I get the four year term, because I've never had one," said Wells. "But ultimately Pat and I are good friends. We both know we're going to be on the committee the next two years. It's not as nerve-wracking as to determine if we're going to be on the school committee."

In election night unofficial results, Wells had a five-vote lead over Chisholm, but that lead shrank this week, following a re-canvass of ward 1, precinct 2. The city clerk's office determined that there was a mistake made election night, resulting in some ballots being double-counted, and got an order from a Middlesex Superior Court judge to re-canvass.

"This was not a recount, it's different from a recount. A recount can only be instituted by a candidate," said City Clerk Bill Campbell. "Right away, once the issue was identified. That's why we contacted the secretary of state's office."

The secretary of state's office suggested asking a judge to re-canvass the precinct.

"It's important that people realize how much effort the city clerk's office has put into making sure that every vote counts," Wells said.

According to Campbell, the city's charter doesn't say anything about ties in general elections, so if the two end up tied Monday, the law department will be left scrambling to figure out what to do. Chisholm said she'd rather concede and let Wells take the four-year term.

"We'll serve for the next two years together, and we'll go from there," Chisholm said. "Leave it to the school committee to make the charter be re-written."

Chisholm and Wells have served together on the school committee since 2002. Ellen Crowley, also an incumbent, took the first place spot, while newcomers Andrew Lipsett and Colleen Cormier got fourth and fifth. The re-canvass did not alter their elections.

"John and I have very similar opinions and stands on a lot of stuff that goes on in the school system, so probably share a lot of voters. We've both been on the school committee for a long time, so it's nice sign for us that the voters like us," Chisholm said.

Campbell said this is the closest race he's seen in Woburn.

"The only other one I can think of is a preliminary race with a 2-vote difference between second and third," he said.

That race would have had many fewer votes, so the margin was bigger, as a percentage of the total. According to the city charter, in a preliminary election, if there were a tie for second, both candidates would advance to the general election, resulting in a three-candidate ballot.

The re-canvass was a result of write-in votes being double counted. At the end of the election night, poll workers meant to run "overvote" ballots through the tabulator, where there are more candidates selected in a race than allowed, blanking out the affected races. But they accidentally ran the write-in ballots, instead, which had already been counted.

Campbell said he's not worried about this happening again. The machines have been used close to 750 times, since the city got them in 2001, and this has never happened before, he explained.

"The two individuals who worked there are extremely competent. Would they make this mistake again? No."

But he would have asked for a re-canvass even if it wouldn't have affected the results, because it's "the right thing to do," the clerk said.

"It's important for people to realize: every vote does count," Chisholm said.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at chris.huffaker@patch.com and 412-265-8353.