The success of the May 17 annual town election depends on your perspective.
Turnout was just 15.4 percent, but that was about two percent more than last year, and the highest in at least 10 years, Town Clerk Kelly McElreath told the Select Board Tuesday.
Board members praised town officials for transitioning smoothly from 14 to five polling places – a move some people said would suppress turnout.
Despite the modest improvement, newly elected Select Board member Deb Iaquinto said voter participation should be higher.
“I feel we can really do a lot better,” she said.
McElreath agreed, but said turnout for local elections in general is typically low. She called the Plymouth results “very encouraging” and said she hopes to build on the momentum to generate increased voter participation in future local elections.
She said the smaller number of polling places made it easier for her office to tally the results. The unofficial results were posted within minutes after the polls closed. Officials had cited a trend toward early in-person and mail-in voting as a reason for the polling place consolidation, which they said would save the town money.
Final results show that 8,125 of 52,899 registered voters cast ballots. Last year, 6,898 of 51,843 registered voters did so— for a turnout of 13.3 percent.
In the race for two Select Board seats, Bill Keohan was the top vote getter, with 4,713, and Iaquinto came in second with 3,621 votes. They ousted incumbents Charlie Bletzer and John Mahoney.
McElreath said the reduced number of polling places also meant she was able visit them all on election day — and could quickly resolve any issues. It was the first time in three years that she was able to stop by every polling place, McElreath said.
The town spent a little more on the election than expected but also saved a little more.
Officials had estimated the cost at $34,000 – it went over that amount by just $50.
Officials also slightly underestimated the potential savings. They projected the town would save $6,700 per election — preliminary numbers show that for this election the town the savings totaled $7,000.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.