As expected, all candidates on Saturday’s Bedford Town Election ballot were successful as there were no contested races.
There were 815 absentee and early votes as of 4 p.m. on Saturday. The total turnout for this year’s election was 1,306. That’s less than 13 percent of the town’s 10,295 total registered voters.
Three newcomers joined elected boards: Paul Mortenson, Select Board; Sarah McGinley, School Committee; and Renae Nichols, Board of Library Trustees. All terms are for three years except Assessor Dennis Ross, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then ran for the remaining year.
Elected were:
- Select Board: Bopha Malone, 1,103; Paul Mortenson 1,131
- School Committee: Sarah McGinley, 1,171; Sarah Scoville, 1,151
- Planning Board: Jacinda Barbehenn, 1,090; Steven Hagan, 1,176
- Board of Health: Ann Kiessling, 986; Susan Schwartz, 1,157
- Board of Assessors: Rebecca Neale, 1,174; Dennis Ross, 1,142
- Board of Library Trustees: Rachael Field, 1,148; Renae Nichols, 1,162
- Bedford Housing Authority: Ellis Kriesberg, 1,115
Note: This is an unofficial tally as of 7 p.m. on Saturday.
A year ago, with contests for seats on three boards, almost 3,000 voters participated,
Several candidates gathered outside the John Glenn Middle School gymnasium after the polls closed, awaiting results even though the outcomes were not in doubt. Malone, Mortenson, and McGinley, who were outside most of the day with campaign signs, were joined by Neale.
Retiring Select Board member Ed Pierce also stopped by briefly.
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Last Saturday’s Town Election – it was a low turnout with 13 percent of voters who came out because there was no contested races on ballot. Last year, only 3,000 came out and voted because there was many contested races on ballot. There are 10,000 registered voters in Bedford. Bedford is still a small town. Voters do not always vote for incumbents.