By: Cara Latham
CHESTERFIELD The results of the fire election in District 1 was verified this week, and incumbent Stephen Murza has been declared the winner.
But a township resident has asked state Superior Court Judge John A. Sweeney to perform a recount of the results.
The elections results were delayed because officials had to determine the validity of the ballots cast for write-in candidate James M. Quinn, Fire District Attorney Tim Little said.
The final vote count was 77 votes for Mr. Murza, who ran unopposed, and 70 for Mr. Quinn.
But township resident Susan Layton, who has called for a recount, said some of the votes for Mr. Quinn were discarded unfairly.
Mr. Little, however, said that residents wrote many variations of Mr. Quinn’s name on the ballot, "anywhere from Joe Quinn, Jim Quinn, Quinn James, James Quinn and James M. Quinn," he said.
In addition, "when he sent out his letter to various residents, he enclosed a sticker with his name on it," he said. "Some people put the sticker on, and then did not put an "X" next to it (his name)."
"As to the allowable ballots, that’s what the vote came out to be," he added.
Ms. Layton, however, said that she was at the firehouse the night of the election and checked the preliminary results, which she said she believed showed more votes for Mr. Quinn. She said she feels that some of the variations, like "Jim Quinn," should not have been discarded.
"I’m going to appeal it to Judge Sweeney," she said Wednesday. "I contacted him this morning. I’m going to take it to the judge and do a recount."
Ms. Layton said that if Judge Sweeney determines that "Jim and James are not the same, then I’ll buy that."
She had sent the fire district and Mr. Little a letter last week, urging a response regarding the matter before Tuesday. She said they had not responded to her by then, so she faxed the judge a letter.
"It’s unacceptable to me because I think they’re doing things that are not proper," she said.
When asked if the fire district had done a recount on the results because a resident had requested it, Mr. Little said that "it’s an issue that’s never come up before."
"We’ve got to make sure we respond according to the law," he said. "If the statues require anything be done, then we’ll go from there. The vote has been verified, so I don’t think it’s a matter of rechecking it again. I don’t think recounting it would solve the problem."
As for the defeated $365,875 budget, which would have raised $348,525 by taxation, Mr. Little said the budget will go before the Township Committee, which has been in touch with the fire commissioners requesting financial information. The tax rate has not been determined because the county is still calculating the township’s revaluation, which is used to determine the tax rate.
"Ultimately, there will be a hearing on it before the Township Committee," but a date has not yet been set, said Mr. Little.

