Ballot drop off box by Eastham Town Hall.
HYANNIS – Mislabeled ballots have led to court action by a candidate for First Barnstable District State Representative.
Democrat candidate Chris Flannigan is incorrectly labeled as the incumbent in the race on ballots that went out to voters in the district, which Republican candidate Tracy Post says grants an unfair advantage to her opponent.
“There is power of incumbency. It’s hard to quantify, but certainly there’s a benefit to somebody who is an incumbent or a candidate for reelection printed on the ballot. He didn’t earn that designation,” Post said.
The incorrect ballots went to all three towns in the district, Yarmouth, Dennis and Brewster. Only the Dennis town clerk sent the ballots to voters before the mistake was discovered.
The ballots were discovered to be incorrect in the other two towns before they were sent to voters.
“They deserve to have correct information. They deserve to make sure that there’s integrity in the voting process,” said Post.
New corrected ballots will be mailed out to voters, though the old mislabeled ballots will still be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Post said that a judge ruled against her initial court action to stop the mislabeled ballots from being counted. She added that she is investigating other options.
Post, Flannagan and a third-party candidate, Abe Kasparian, are running to fill the seat.
About Grady Culhane
