The month-long saga of the state Senate District 25 race is over. The controversy over a disputed recount and 21 mystery ballots from Long Island was resolved in a eureka moment Tuesday at the State House. When the dust settled, Democrat Cathy Breen of Falmouth finished ahead of Republican Cathy Manchester of Gray in the race to represent several towns in Portland’s northern suburbs, including the tiny Casco Bay island. The discovery stemmed from a mundane act that could have taken place before the entire mess started. All they needed to do was recount the ballots. It may be hard to imagine a crowd so riveted by people counting out loud to 171, the number of ballots on Long Island. But that’s how it was in the balmy, standing-room-only chambers when state officials opened up the locked ballot container from Long Island and double-checked the math.
In the end, there was no election fraud. There were no extra ballots. Twenty-one of them were simply counted twice during a state-supervised Nov. 18 recount of the contest.
During the controversy – which was heavily reported and relentlessly flogged by partisans who raised the specter of wrongdoing – a cast of characters was shoved onto the public stage for examination.
Full Article: Long Island ballot mystery long on drama – Central Maine.