Denise Provost got 87% of the vote against a little-known opponent.
For Register of Deeds, Maryann Heuston got many more votes in Somerville (3467) than did Maria Curtatone (2216), but Maria Curtatone won the overall election.
Because elected positions offer greater protection from graft and corruption than appointed ones? Because especially the first 13 colonies were hot to put in as many protections from any one person having too much power?
Recording who-owns-what is a job that requires meticulous attention to detail, and absolute and utter uncorruptibility. I think now we have a lot of caution or cynicism about elected officials being as corruptible and vulnerable to influence as appointed ones, but back when the constitution was written, the ideals associated with democracy were mostly optimistic about the populous vs the power. At least this way, if you're going to bribe someone you have to be very careful about their opponent finding out, instead of just having to get one column of power under your influence.
1. I somehow didn't realize Register of Deeds was a county-wide election and not just a Somerville election. Huh. 2. Curtatone won with only 24% of the vote (http://www.boston.com/news/special/politics/2012/state-primary/middlesex-southern-register-of-deeds.html), in a 6-way race. I wonder if the results would have been different with preference voting (e.g. instant runoff).
Not quite 'county-wide'. Middlesex County has two Registry of Deeds districts, North and South. North is just Lowell and some towns surrounding it. South is everything else (including Somerville and Cambridge.)
I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds it fascinating that Maria Curtatone was able to win the election overall, but not to win in the city where she lives and where her brother is the mayor.
I don't think there is any legal requirement for municipalities to count the write-in votes (or the absentee ballots) unless it's possible that they could have a material impact on the outcome of the election, which probably would not have been the case here. If they do have to count them, then they will appear as part of the final tally, which I would guess isn't published yet - votes for candidates whose names were printed on the ballot are counted by machine but, if counting the write-ins is required, those have to be counted by hand.
I'm pretty sure that absentee ballots are counted along with the election-day ballots; they should be delivered to precincts and fed into the same counting machines.
But yeah, write-in votes aren't counted unless they are needed. This is why, if you write in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot, your vote is considered invalid: there is no guarantee that the vote will ever be counted.
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sarken
no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 02:41 pm (UTC)For Register of Deeds, Maryann Heuston got many more votes in Somerville (3467) than did Maria Curtatone (2216), but Maria Curtatone won the overall election.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 04:02 pm (UTC)That is, I'm saying it's not only a MA thing, so it's not like it's never done.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 09:58 pm (UTC)Recording who-owns-what is a job that requires meticulous attention to detail, and absolute and utter uncorruptibility. I think now we have a lot of caution or cynicism about elected officials being as corruptible and vulnerable to influence as appointed ones, but back when the constitution was written, the ideals associated with democracy were mostly optimistic about the populous vs the power. At least this way, if you're going to bribe someone you have to be very careful about their opponent finding out, instead of just having to get one column of power under your influence.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-08 11:26 pm (UTC)2. Curtatone won with only 24% of the vote (http://www.boston.com/news/special/politics/2012/state-primary/middlesex-southern-register-of-deeds.html), in a 6-way race. I wonder if the results would have been different with preference voting (e.g. instant runoff).
no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-10 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-10 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 09:52 pm (UTC)Do you know how we can see who all the write in votes were for? That would be fascinating.
no subject
Date: 2012-09-07 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-08 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-10 04:00 pm (UTC)But yeah, write-in votes aren't counted unless they are needed. This is why, if you write in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot, your vote is considered invalid: there is no guarantee that the vote will ever be counted.