SOUTHAMPTON —On May 15, 638 residents cast votes for Select Board incumbent Charles Kaniecki. Another 638 cast their votes for Matt Roland, a challenger who works in health care and who has been vocal as a citizen about supporting the recently passed Proposition 2½ override to fund services for the town.
With a tied vote — the first that Town Administrator Ed Gibson, a former West Springfield mayor, said he’s seen personally — Southampton is pondering what comes next.
Gibson said Friday that no one had filed for a recount. The deadline to file for a recount is 10 days after the election, which fell on Friday at 5 p.m.
Without a recount request, the Select Board is faced with a failure to elect and will most likely schedule a special election for the seat with the required minimum 65 days notice, according to Gibson.
“It looks like Southampton is on its way to a special election,” he said.
A special election would start the voting process anew, he said. Candidates would have the option to collect signatures for nomination or be nominated by caucus. New candidates could emerge for the seat.
Kaniecki confirmed on Friday that he was not interested in requesting a recount and said he was “thunderstruck” at the exact tie.
“I’ve been involved in this for 40 years, and I’m still thunderstruck,” Kaniecki said. “And this wasn’t just 20 people who voted.”
He said he is hoping there might be some way to have a special election at the same time as the state primaries on Sept. 4 to save the town money.
For now, he plans to go about his business as usual and said there are important projects before the Select Board and the Public Safety Committee, which he chairs, that he wants to keep focusing on.
Roland also said Friday that he would not be requesting a recount and is pushing for a special election.
“This is exciting, for the town, even historically,” Roland said of the tie. “It puts a smile on my face.”
He said he’s “amazed” by the tie and the high voter turnout for the election, as well as the passage of the $493,000 override.
He added that supporters of the override worked very hard to get factual information out to voters and said he’s proud that the citizens of Southampton voted to support their town after a pattern of turning down other overrides in the past.
“Part of the reason I think the town should have a special election is because voters are so engaged and involved,” he said. “It’s great for the town’s future.”
The election saw voter turnout of around 39 percent with 1,631 ballots cast from a checklist of 4,158.
Kaniecki also said he was glad to see the override pass, and said he thought the high voter turnout had a lot to do with people coming out to vote on the override.
“I’m glad voters saw the fact that we have to stop and refresh as a town,” Kaniecki said. “Hopefully, with this override, we won’t be faced with another decision like this for years to come.”
Francine Tishman, a resident of Southampton since 2008 who has spent her career helping people with disabilities, was elected with 937 votes to one of the two seats on the Select Board.
George Plouffe, a former member of the Navy who now works with youth adopted out of foster care, was the fourth candidate to run for one of the two positions on the Select Board.
Gibson said the Select Board has tentatively scheduled discussion of a special election for June 5 , but for now, he said, there’s plenty of talk around town about the historic 638/638 tie.
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.