FRANKLINVILLE SCHOOLS
Balky lever forces use of paper ballots
FRANKLINVILLE — One lever of a mechanical voting machine that served the Franklinville community for more than 50 years failed Tuesday, forcing poll workers to provide paper ballots to the 411 residents who voted in a threeway School Board race.
Election officials were able to count the machine votes, 10 absentee ballots and a single affidavit ballot for one School Board seat and for the $16.41 million budget proposition, which passed, 225-192. But workers decided to count all ballots three times after the polls closed at 8 p. m., causing a delay in reporting the unofficial count until Wednesday morning.
Sue Ciesla, with 196 votes, was declared the winner of a two-way race with Nancy Frazier, who received 194 votes. Ciesla will serve out the three years remaining in the term of Richard Hughes, who recently resigned his post.
Incumbent Tim Bigham received the most votes in the threeway race for the five-year board term — a total of 213 votes — including 10 absentee ballots and 203 paper ballots cast because of the machine malfunction in the second column of board candidates.
He defeated Eugene Peterson, who received 144 paper ballots and four absentee ballots, for a total of 148. Candidate David Blaney received 64 paper ballots, one absentee ballot and one vote that was cast by affidavit, for a total of 66 votes.
District Clerk and poll worker chairwoman Diane Soulvie said one key locked when the first voter pulled the lever in the second column at noon Tuesday, shortly after the machine was unlocked and inspected.
She said officials decided not to halt voting to repair the machine and instead every voter was asked to make a machine selection for the budget as well as for the three-year board candidate. They were also offered a paper ballot to choose a candidate to fill the five-year board seat. Those ballots were placed in a cardboard box and opened after the polls closed at 8 p. m.
Soulvie said Frazier has 30 days to challenge the unofficial results, but no complaints were received.
Also in Cattaraugus County, Allegany-Limestone voters approved the $21.5 million budget, 353-214 and elected two School Board members. The top vote-getters were Chris Mackowski with 418 votes and Anne Goergen with 294. Also receiving votes was Eva Potter with 254.
In the Wyoming School District in Wyoming County, voters approved the budget, 104-36. Voters also elected two School Board members, Christine Baker with 122 votes and Ernest Morris Jr., with 101.
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